Insights Categories: Corporate & Commercial

Small to medium businesses can now restructure their way out of financial distress without having to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’. On 1 January 2021 the Corporations Amendment (Corporation Insolvency Reforms) Act 2020 (Cth) was passed, resulting in Australia’s most major insolvency law reform of the past 30 years. Restructuring Process The main […]

From 12 April 2021, there will be new rules for ownership of .com.au and .net.au domain names. The new rules are designed to (among other things) enhance trust in the .au namespaces. The changes being implemented from 12 April 2021 include changes to: eligibility and allocation rules for .com.au, .net.au, .org.au and .asn.au domains the […]

Major changes to Australia’s foreign investment regime came into effect on 1 January 2021, through two pieces of legislation: the Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia’s National Security) Act 2020 (Cth) which amends the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) (the Act); and the Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia’s National Security) Regulations 2020 (Cth) which […]

Small and medium businesses will have the ability to collectively bargain with their suppliers once the first ever class exemption granted by the ACCC commences this month. Background and the ACCC’s class exemption power Since November 2017, the ACCC has had the power to make class exemptions for certain types of conduct which may otherwise […]

On 1 December 2020, the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ) (the NZ Privacy Act), repealed and replaced the Privacy Act 1993 (NZ). The NZ Privacy Act better aligns the privacy law in New Zealand (NZ) with international best practice. Importantly, for Australian residents and organisations, it means greater security and accountability for cross-border flow of personal […]

The need to relocate an existing pharmacy can arise for a variety of reasons. Meridian has recently advised pharmacies moving within the same shopping centre (for example, to take advantage of a larger sized shop), and a pharmacy in a medical centre moving to a new location along with the medical practice. While moving from […]

The Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme was introduced in February 2018 to improve consumer protection and security relating to personal information. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently released its half-yearly Notifiable Data Breaches Report (NDBR) for the period from 1 January to 30 July 2020. The NDBR provides detail around the causes […]

Education and care providers will be aware that they are under a duty to adequately supervise children both when they are awake, and when they are asleep. Providers are also under duty to take every reasonable precaution to protect children from harm and hazard, and to ensure that their policies are being followed. The content […]

The Privacy (Australian Bushfires Disaster) Emergency Declaration (No 1) 2020 came into force on 20 January 2020 in response to bushfires in Australia resulting in death, injury and property damage occurring from August 2019 into 2020. The Emergency Declaration will expire on 20 January 2021. The Emergency Declaration was made under Part VIA of Privacy […]

Do you know what to do if your business is selected for a review or audit? Receiving notice of a tax review or audit is likely to be unexpected and very stressful.  The process is often lengthy and can take years to complete. If you do receive an audit notice you must comply fully and […]

Approved providers of family day care services will be aware that their State Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating early childhood education and care services and for enforcing compliance with the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law) and the Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations) applicable in each State. It is […]