In a decision that has potential implications for a raft of Federal Government programs the High Court held that legislation passed to authorise hundreds of government funding arrangements is invalid insofar as it relates to the national schools chaplaincy program The decision once again confirms ...

The Government has released a consultation paper on the regulation of retirement income streams It says that the Government wants to encourage the development of more retirement products But this is old news and the paper offers few concrete policy proposals other than in the area of deferred ...

A policy background paper on media control and ownership released by the federal Department of Communications aims to restart the discussion on media law reform The paper does not draw conclusions or make recommendations but adopts a deregulatory tone Partner Ian McGill Senior Associate Matt Vitins ...

The Federal Government has introduced legislation which, if passed, will terminate the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program and remove the mandatory requirement for large energy using businesses to assess and report on opportunities to improve energy efficiency. ...

Following consultation and feedback a final version of the Metropolitan Planning Strategy known as Plan Melbourne has been launched While the focus of Plan Melbourne continues to be on employment cluster locations and urban renewal opportunities there is also a renewed focus in the final document on ...

The landmark Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement is expected to further strengthen the established complementary economic relationship between the two countries, and to provide new opportunities for cross-border investment and trade. ...

The Queensland Government has introduced amending legislation that will significantly reform all parts of water regulation in Queensland The reform introduces significant streamlining opportunities but also new obligations particularly for those in the resources industry Partner Bill McCredie ...

The Australian Law Reform Commission has released its long-anticipated final report on serious invasions of privacy The report proposes that a new statutory cause of action be implemented in a new stand-alone Commonwealth Act If adopted the proposal would have far reaching ramifications for ...

The Federal Government has implemented a variety of policy and legislative reforms to its environmental approvals regime Partner Chris Schulz Senior Associate Emily Gerrard and Associate Katherine Kirby report on two legislative amendments that facilitate recent reforms the introduction of a user ...

Senators Jacqui Lambie and Ricky Muir this morning joined a group of cross-bench Senators in announcing that they would vote with Labor and the Greens to disallow the Governments FoFA regulations made in June this year - the Corporations Amendment Streamlining Future of Financial Advice Regulation ...