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CommercialLaw
28 June, 2022

Electronic execution of documents by companies

The Corporations Amendment (Meetings and Documents) Bill 2021 (Cth) (Amendment Act) was given royal assent on 22 February 2022 and has now come into force. The Amendment Act has amended the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) and builds on the temporary measures introduced last year by the Treasury Laws…
BuildingConstructionLaw
23 June, 2022

Queensland project trust accounts

Since its introduction in 2020, the Queensland construction industry has been adapting to the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (Qld) (‘BIFOLA’). One of the most significant amendments made by BIFOLA is the introduction of the new trust account framework to replace the previous…
CommercialLaw
26 May, 2022

SOPA & statutory demands

There has been some confusion about whether debts which arise under Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (the SOPA) can be enforced using a statutory demand. In Grandview Ausbuilder Pty Ltd v Budget Demolitions Pty Ltd NSWCA 60 (Grandview v Budget), the NSW Court of Appeal…
ConstructionContractsLaw
5 May, 2022

Rise and Fall Clauses in Construction Contracts

Rise and fall clauses have been largely overlooked in the Australian construction industry for over two decades. Interest has picked up in recent months due to rapid increases in materials prices. As we re-enter an inflationary environment, legal practitioners and Contractors should learn about or refresh their knowledge of rise…
Law
20 April, 2022

Modern slavery obligations: a Commonwealth and NSW perspective

Background On 1 January 2019, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (“Commonwealth Act”) came into effect and established a national modern slavery reporting requirement. However, this Commonwealth Act had two key inconsistencies in the reporting requirements with the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) (“NSW Act”) as follows: the NSW Act…
ContractsEmploymentLaw
7 March, 2022

Employee or Contractor?: the High Court decides

The High Court of Australia (HCA) handed down two major decisions that highlight the importance of getting contractual terms correct and how those terms can determine the nature of the relationship. In the two decisions, the HCA makes clear that where the terms of the parties' relationship are comprehensively committed…