News and Insights From Williams Hughes

Modern slavery legislation: the clock is ticking for Australian companies to prepare their first Modern Slavery Statement

Modern slavery legislation has been enacted in Australia. Many larger companies are now legally obliged to prepare Modern Slavery Statements and submit these statements to the Australian Federal Government. The Statements will be published on a publicly accessible register. At its broadest, ...

Vying for social media engagement: More risk than reward?

The recent Court decision in Voller v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 766 (the Voller case) highlights a danger inherent in using social media - social media publications invite comments from a wide variety of users, with a very real risk that some of those comments may convey a defam...

Minutes of Board Meetings: more than just a "box ticking" exercise

The importance of minute taking at Board meetings was recently highlighted by the Financial Services Royal Commission.  The Governance Institute of Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors have collaborated to publish a Joint Statement of Board Minues (Joint Stateme...

Board Spills - Getting the notice right

The interaction between section 249D and section 203D of the Corporations Act 2001.  There has been a significant rise in shareholder activism over the last couple of years.  Often this is driven by shareholders with financial capacity and vision for the company, wanting to turn a...

THE ACCC CONTINUES ITS CRACK DOWN ON THE USE OF UNFAIR CONTRACT TERMS

Uber Eats agreed this week to amend its contracts with restaurants following an investigation by the ACCC. From at least 2016, Uber Eats’ contracts made restaurants responsible for the delivery of food orders despite the restaurants having no control over delivery. Under the contracts, if f...

Franchising: Federal Court freezes assets of franchisor to protect franchisees who claim they were misled

Background Jump Swim is an Australian-based franchisor that sells franchises to franchisees wishing to operate their own Jump Swim School to supply learn-to-swim services to children. According to its website Jump Swim has over 65 swim school locations in Australia, and has established operations...

Employment law changes from 1 July 2019 - take note !

Employers should take note of changes to the employment landscape that take effect on 1 July 2019. Increase in the National Minimum Wage and modern award rates As discussed in a separate Williams + Hughes Insight, from 1 July 2019 the:  national minimum wage  will inc...

Keeping your financials “off the record”: from 1 July 2019 fewer companies need to lodge their financial accounts with ASIC

Recent changes to the Corporations Act 2001 remove the need for many companies to lodge annual financial accounts with ASIC. With effect from 1 July 2019, the criteria in the Corporations Act 2001 for classification as a “large proprietary company” have been changed. The revenue, asse...

Minimum wage increase to apply in Australia from 1 July 2019

All employers should be aware of the Fair Work Commission's (FWC's) decision regarding the 2018/2019 annual wage review. The FWC announced a 3% increase from the first full day period on or after 1 July 2019 to the: national minimum wage, which will increase to $740.80 per week or $...

Peanut Butter Battle of Jars and Trade Marks

Peanut butter is big business in Australia.  In 2017 the Australian peanut butter market was worth $110 million in annual sales. A brand recognisable to many Australians - Kraft peanut butter - has been available for purchase in Australia since 1935. The Federal Court recently handed down ju...

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