High Court Finds NSW Election Third Party Donation Cap Law Invalid
In Unions NSW v New South Wales [2019] HCA 1, the High Court has unanimously held that subsection 29(10) of the Electoral Funding Act 2018 (NSW) (‘the EF Act’) is invalid.
Work Health Authority v Outback Ballooning Pty Ltd & Anor [2019] HCA 2: High Court
Allows Appeal
On 6 February 2019, the High Court (by majority), allowed an appeal from the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory (Outback Ballooning Pty Ltd v Work Health Authority and Bamber [2017] NTCA 7 (19 October 2017)).
Federal Court Fines Optus $10 Million for Misleading Conduct
In a recent Media Release, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) announced that Optus has been fined $10 million for misleading customers who unknowingly purchased or subscribed to content via the telco's direct billing service.
ALRC Releases Final Report on Inquiry Into Class Actions and 3rd-party Litigation
Funders
The Australian Law Reform Commission's (ALRC's) final report into class action proceedings and third-party litigation funders has been publicly released after being tabled in Federal Parliament on 25 January 2019. According to the acting Attorney-General, Greg Hunt MP, the report is "expected to stimulate debate amongst consumer advocates, the legal profession, the business sector, and across the wider community, on the issues raised by the report."
Parliamentary Inquiry Releases Report Into Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism
A Parliamentary Inquiry into Australian and international organ trafficking released its final report on 3 December 2018. The final report, written by the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (‘the Sub-Committee’), titled Compassion, Not Commerce: An inquiry into human organ trafficking and organ transplant tourism (‘the Report’) makes twelve recommendations as to how the Australian government can combat this practice. The Report examines the prevalence of organ trafficking both internationally and within Australia and discusses Australia’s current involvement in international efforts to stop this trade.
Tasmanian Family Violence Reforms Bill Receives Assent
The Family Violence Reforms Bill 2018 (Tas) (the “Bill”) was introduced to Tasmania Parliament’s House of Assembly on 25 September 2018, by the Hon Elise Archer MP. It received Royal Assent on 10 December 2018 and was enacted as the Family Violence Reforms Act 2018 (Act 26 of 2018), with Act also taking commencing on the date of its assent.
ACCC Digital Platform Inquiry: Preliminary Report Released
On Monday (10 December 2018) the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC) published its Digital Platform Inquiry: Preliminary Report (the Preliminary Report) which sets out 11 preliminary recommendations and eight areas to be further analysed as its inquiry continues.
Ad Valorem Duty: Appropriate Company Valuation [2018] HCA 59
In the Commissioner of State Revenue v Placer Dome Inc (now an amalgamated entity named Barrick Gold Corporation) [2018] HCA 59, the High Court of Australia unanimously upheld the Commissioner of State Revenue’s (‘the Commissioner’) assessment that the Barrick Gold Corporation (‘Barrick’) was liable to pay the ad valorem duty arising from its acquisition of Placer Dome Inc (‘Placer’).
Tasmanian Electricity Supply Bill Receives Assent
After having been introduced to Tasmania Parliament’s House of Assembly on 22 May 2018 by the Hon Peter Gutwein MP, the Electricity Supply Industry Amendment (Price Cap) Bill 2018 (Tas) passed Tasmania’s Legislative Council on 1 November 2018 and was enacted as the Electricity Supply Industry Amendment (Price Cap) Act 2018 (Act 24 of 2018) on 16 November 2018, commencing on the same day.
The Republic of Nauru v WET040 [No 2] [2018] HCA 60: High Court Allows Appeal
On 5 December 2018, the High Court of Australia (“High Court”) unanimously allowed an appeal from a decision of the Supreme Court of Nauru, holding that the Refugee Status Review Tribunal ("Tribunal") had not erred in dismissing the respondent's application to be recognised as a refugee or as person owed complementary protection by the Republic of Nauru under the Refugees Convention Act 2012 (Nr).
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