A promised overhaul of the Privacy Act has begun with reforms that make doxxing a crime and could see businesses face new claims, including class actions, for serious invasions of privacy.
The Albanese government plans to introduce legislation that would bar children under a certain age from setting up social media accounts.
The government has revealed the thresholds for mergers that will need to be reviewed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission under reforms that will take effect in 2026, promising to spare small acquisitions.
Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has been hit with a $40,000 fine for failing to disclose that he was behind three politically motivated Facebook posts in 2018 and 2019.
A class action on behalf of public housing tenants who were allegedly forced to relocate is facing a bid for summary judgment by the ACT government, which claims it is not the correct respondent.
A court has granted Rio Tinto unit Energy Resources Australia an interim stay to allow it to contest the government’s decision not to renew its lease for the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory.
Employment Minister Tony Burke says he will support the Fair Work Commission’s plan to appoint an independent administrator to the construction division of the CFMEU and flagged an AFP investigation into recent allegations the union has been infiltrated by criminal figures.
The commissioner of South Australia’s ICAC has stepped down for “mostly professional” reasons, saying her criticisms of 2021 reforms that limited the commission’s power to crack down on public corruption “have fallen on deaf ears”.
The nation’s peak legal body has reiterated its concerns about proposed rules that would subject lawyers and accountants to new money laundering obligations, warning the regulations would impose a costly “red tape burden for no good reason” on smaller firms.
A Greens senator has called for reducing a proposed immunity from climate disclosure litigation from three years to one after lawyers, including the NSW Bar Association, blasted the moratorium. But some law firms say the immunity doesn’t go far enough and should shield companies and their officers from continuous disclosure-related claims.