Cattle company and directors face imprisonment – three questions you should be asking
In a continuing national trend, a Northern Territory cattle company, its director and another manager have been charged with safety offences which could see them spend time in prison. The charges arise from work completed by two station hands who were tasked with fencing duties. One station hand was operating a tractor with a post […]
QIRC decides local government ‘Senior Officer’ award definition – are you paying correctly?
Why does this matter? ‘Senior Officers’ within the meaning of the Stream A Award (Award) can be excluded from Award and certified agreement coverage. That exclusion is relied upon by councils to facilitate flexible employment arrangements for senior staff. However, if an employee is incorrectly treated as a Senior Officer, there is a significant risk of an […]
Rapid changes to environmental authority requirements
Our previous article, Reform to Queensland’s environmental enforcement laws – Jones Review and EPOLA Act, introduced the suite of reform underway for Queensland’s environmental legislation, and touched on the current response to the Jones Review into the adequacy of existing powers and penalties under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) (EP Act). This article examines […]
Less than one month to go: what will happen if you haven’t updated your unfair contract terms
This is the third article of McCullough Robertson’s series on What you don’t know about unfair contract terms, which highlight upcoming changes to Australia’s unfair contract terms (UCT) regime. In our first two articles we took a closer look at the non-disparagement clause and indemnity clauses. With less than one month to go, we thought […]
Data breach obligations at forefront of Queensland’s privacy reforms
After some anticipation, the Queensland Government last week introduced legislation to strengthen Queensland’s privacy regime and increase transparency and accountability in how Queensland government agencies collect, hold, use and otherwise deal with personal information. The Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 (Qld) (Bill) proposes various amendments to the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) […]
Reform to Queensland’s environmental enforcement laws – Jones Review and EPOLA Act
Background of the Jones Review In April 2022, an independent review into the adequacy of existing powers and penalties under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) (EP Act) was commissioned, with the inquiry directed towards the adequacy of existing legislative powers for ensuring environmental performance, and providing for penalties if environmental laws and duties are […]
McCullough Robertson adds further depth to its Sydney offering with key lateral insolvency partner hire
Leading independent Australian law firm McCullough Robertson Lawyers announced today the appointment of Chris Barr as a partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution team based in Sydney. Mr Barr’s appointment is part of delivering on our strategic priority to grow our Sydney office and a desire to increase the firm’s capability in the restructuring, […]
Livestreaming – have you considered copyright protection and infringement?
With the advent of an increasingly remote and/or hybrid work culture, there has been an increase in the use of various livestreaming platforms, including in relation to the viewing of business, organisational, cultural and sporting events. However, this may leave open the possibility of infringing on third-party copyright materials, or having the livestream material shared […]