Victoria’s landmark gender equality laws to improve workplaces.
Landmark laws are being introduced to Victoria to hold workplaces responsible for the treatment of women and ensure they are afforded the opportunities they deserve. Read More
New challengers arise
In the not-too-distant future, Australia’s law firms could be up against stiff competition when it comes to serving SME clients. According to NAB’s inaugural Legal Services Industry Survey of 70 law firms and over 750 small and medium-sized businesses, SMEs are much more likely to view the big accounting firms as better placed to offer them complex and diversified advice about their whole business. Read More
Sydney’s lockout laws to be relaxed but will it save the city’s nightlife?
The NSW Government has made the decision to wind back some of the controversial lockout laws that have decimated the city’s once-vibrant nightlife. Extended trading hours for venues and bottle shops, a relaxation of after-midnight drink rules and other changes will be introduced from January. Read More
Westpac CEO and chairman step down amid AUSTRAC allegations
Westpac Group (ASX: WBC) CEO Brian Hartzer and chairman Lindsay Maxstead will step down in the wake of legal controversy surrounding the bank. Hatzer’s resignation follows allegations from AUSTRAC that the banking group contravened the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) on more than 23 million occasions. Read More
CBA’s CommInsure pleads guilty to 87 counts of hawking
A subsidiary of Australia’s largest bank has pleaded guilty to making unlawful and unsolicited phone calls in breach of the Corporations Act. Commonwealth Bank (ASC: CBA) subsidiary Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Limited, trading as CommInsure, has pleaded guilty on 87 counts of the practice known as “hawking” between October and December 2014. Read More
Hold your horses: Body Corporate ban on Airbnbs unlikely to impact most Queenslanders.
A landmark legal decision upholding a ban on Airbnbs in certain strata title complexes is unlikely to impact the broader industry. For the first time in Queensland, a by-law banning short-term letting or Airbnb within a Gold Coast community has been successful. Read More
