2023
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Gayann Walkers is a well-respected Victorian Barrister. Tis interview focuses on what it takes to be a Barrister in sports law, and what the future of the field looks like.
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The growth of artificial intelligence technologies in Australia has recently come under the spotlight, as the Albanese Government looks to review existing regulatory and governance mechanisms and establish applicable safeguards that are fit for purpose in the current day and age.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing fast – but how should it be used? Over the past month, the ethical use and development of AI have been heavily scrutinised as policymakers, intellectuals, and industry leaders debate whether a moratorium should be imposed on AI’s development, or whether AI should be embraced in the name of economic growth.
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Right now, each state has its own provisions for long service leave, both in terms of its implementation and how long service must be prior to leave. NSW has had a high-impact case through Wipro v State of NSW, and this could have long-term implications, and possibly trigger a national reform.
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The FWC is continuing to expand its protections for employees, thereby broadening the responsibilities of employers. Two recent cases of FWC rulings have applied the protections of unfair dismissal for causal employees.
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After the JMC Pty Ltd v Cmr of Taxation high court decision, contracts remain king in determining whether an individual is a contractor or employee. The superannuation guarantees, however, remain unsettled for individual contractors.
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With the increased use of sustainable finance products, there is increased focus on the risks and challenges facing market participants in connection with the implementation of sustainable financing, including the risks associated with 'greenwashing' (or, in the broader social context, 'bluewashing').
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On 18 September 2023 at Climate Week NYC, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) released its highly anticipated final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure (TNFD recommendations).
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This checklist was produced by the expert legal writers of Practical Guidance Insolvency & Restructuring and sets out key matters to cover when advising a director of a company in financial distress.
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The significant spike in insolvencies in the construction sector in Australia has caused a number of issues for owners of properties under construction.
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We’re constantly reporting on ugly stuff no one else wants to touch but unfortunately, that’s the state of the world for women right now.
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Concussions in sport have taken centre stage of recent media and their long-term effects on brain degradation. However, sub-concussive impacts also play a key role in the long-term degradation of brains, however they aren’t discussed at all, particularly in how to mitigate their effects.
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So, the LexisNexis practical guidance team has published the NFT on ‘How to create an NFT’. As a nerdy CEO I was of course keen to both follow the process of how we create the NFT, including all the internal hoops to navigate, as well as then to bid on the NFT once it was up for Auction.
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The legal industry has seen a gradual but significant transformation for several years. From increasing efficiencies and reducing the amount of unbillable time to becoming more client centric, law firms have slowly yet steadily moved towards adopting newer and more data driven techniques to shape firm growth.
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You can’t scroll through LinkedIn without reading posts about the ‘5 things you need to know about generative AI’.
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Technology has long been part of what it means to practice law, with document automation, practice management systems, and computer-aided legal research part of lawyers’ day-to-day for decades.
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Major reforms have passed that change the way in which organisations must respond to any breach of their customer’s data. The scope of the NSW privacy commissioner’s position has also significantly increased. This article explores this and their effect, and ultimately prescribes methods for protection of organisations into the future.
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Major reforms have passed that change the way in which organisations must respond to any breach of their customer’s data. The scope of the NSW privacy commissioner’s position has also significantly increased. This article explores this and their effect, and ultimately prescribes methods for protection of organisations into the future.
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Major reforms have passed that change the way in which organisations must respond to any breach of their customer’s data. The scope of the NSW privacy commissioner’s position has also significantly increased. This article explores this and their effect, and ultimately prescribes methods for protection of organisations into the future.
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In response to growing consumer and investor concerns about environmental issues, the demand for “green” financial products and services has significantly increased in recent years. However, this trend is also accompanied by the growing risk of unsavoury conduct by some marketers and producers. ASIC is now cracking down on greenwashing in financial products.
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After a long time in hibernation (ie since the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (US) (COPPA) was passed in 1998), children’s privacy in relation to online activities and social media has re-emerged as a significant issue.
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Recent major data breaches in Australia, suffered by telecom operator Singtel Optus, health-insurer Medibank Private and financial services company Latitude Financial have led to a wave of class-action lawsuits exploring new ground in the country’s legal system.
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Class actions are now a mainstay of the Australian litigation landscape. As at April 2023, there were 144 class action proceedings on foot across all registries of the Federal Court of Australia alone, not including the significant number of class actions on foot in each of the State Supreme Courts with their own regimes (including in Western Australia, whose dedicated regime commenced operation on 24 March 2023).
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At the end of 2022, two landmark cases were decided in relation to environmental protections and logging practices in Victorian state forests. Warburton Environment v VicForests (No 5) and Environment East Gippsland Inc v VicForests (No 4)--what foundation were they were built upon, and what are the consequences?
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Flexible work was firmly on the reform agenda of the Labor government. In the raft of reforms brought about by the enactment of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act, enacted in December 2022, flexible work is undergoing significant changes.
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A lot has happened since we last wrote about our NFT project. The Easter Bunny has been and gone. The Cash Rate has risen. Sweden won Eurovision. And yes… over a few more real coffees, in virtual meeting rooms, and, with guidance from our advisers at Herbert Smith Freehills, we have mulled over and finalised (break out the champagne) the terms and conditions for our NFT.
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Generative AI for Lawyers: What It Is, How It Works, and Using It for Maximum Impact
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Of all the issues posed by the growth of AI, the data privacy and IP implications are certainly among the most interesting. What data was the AI bot trained on? How is it used? How easily accessible is it by another party? What rights does a creator have if their work is being replicated or adapted without their consent?
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A reference involves the court making an order to appoint a referee (or a panel of referees) to assist the court in determining questions of fact or law in dispute in a proceeding.
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Linda Przhedetsky is an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney’s Human Technology Institute. She’s a policymaker and PhD candidate specialising in the ethical development, regulation and use of artificial intelligence (AI), and her research focuses on the role of automated decision-making tools in competitive essential services markets and the development of effective regulatory solutions that prevent consumer harms, while simultaneously promoting innovation. So to say that she’s an authority on the ethical use of AI is, in many ways, an understatement.
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An easement is a non-exclusive right to use another person’s land, in perpetuity, for a particular purpose. The perpetuity element is one of the key things which differentiates an easement from other forms of land access rights, such as a lease or a licence.
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Following the formal abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the transfer of its functions to the Fair Work Ombudsman (albeit with a fraction of the budget), some employers are asking legitimate questions about the FWO’s approach to compliance and enforcement.
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Few technologies have generated as much hype across the legal industry as Generative AI. Open AI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and a host of new solutions being developed on Large Language Models (LLMs) are making waves across the world.
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Presumably, the Spice Girls weren’t referring to M&A activity when they penned the lyrics to their iconic late 90’s hit ‘When two become one’, but there are some similarities that can be drawn between it and merger control in Australia.
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This article discusses what Uber Health is, how it is has been implemented, and what the privacy risks are. It then discusses other cases of data breaches, the penalties Uber Health may face if placed in the same predicament, and what the current changes to legislation are as a result.
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As of June 6th 2023, changes have been made to the Enterprise Bargaining and BOOT sections of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act. This article explores these changes and what they mean for organisations and lawyers more broadly.
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High Court rejects Mayfair and Mawhinney special leave applications. What are the 5 Key takeaways and implications for future financial services enforcement?
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How artificial intelligence and machine learning models in organisations impact on privacy requirements for lawyers. The article introduces concepts such as privacy leakage, amending the definition of personal information, and consumer control over their data usage.
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Recent decisions of the Federal Court in high-profile class actions highlight the emerging trend for the courts to appoint referees in novel and innovative ways in a broad range of complex commercial matters, from the determination of liability and damages to the identification of candidates to conduct settlement distribution schemes.
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Digital marketplaces have been a key enforcement priority of the ACCC. Understand why, explore the cases and understand how these are applicable to every digital marketplace.
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Approving a company’s financial statements is one of the board’s core irreducible responsibilities. Discharging this responsibility requires a proper corporate governance framework and sufficient financial literacy, among other things. The featured checklist in this article steps through these and other key considerations that the board should take into account when signing-off on accounts.
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Approving a company’s financial statements is one of the board’s core irreducible responsibilities. Discharging this responsibility requires a proper corporate governance framework and sufficient financial literacy, among other things. The featured checklist in this article steps through these and other key considerations that the board should take into account when signing-off on accounts.
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On 7 March 2023, the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Gina Cass-Gottlieb, announced the ACCC’s 2023/2024 enforcement and compliance priorities and confirmed its enduring priorities. The priorities span across both competition and consumer law, with many arising from the cost-of-living crisis.
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The use of mediation in sporting disputes is rapidly increasing and broadening in its use case. Understand how and when you can utilise mediation to improve the effectiveness for both sides of the dispute, particularly within a sports law context.
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As 2022 cyber events have shown us, few crises have the potential to impact an organisation’s reputation as negatively as a cyber incident. When not handled correctly, the damage to an organisation’s reputation from a cyber event can be severe and long lasting.
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Unlike its generative predecessors such as Midjourney and DALL-E 2, ChatGPT seems to have caught the interest and imagination of the mainstream. I’d initially held-off writing anything on the launch of ChatGPT due to the hype that accompanies these launches, but over a month later, it is still very much in the public consciousness. While it is still early days, ChatGPT represents a significant set forward in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), which leads us to the questions of what is generative AI? What happens next? And what does this mean for legal professionals? I’ll try my best to answer each of these, with a little help from ChatGPT along the way!
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How can you understand what ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) is, and how it is relevant to your organisation and to your legal team? What can you do to ensure that your ESG policies are legitimate and make a real impact?
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Reducing the amount of unbillable time spent on case law research is a great reason for a barrister or law firm to invest in technology. But investing in AI is only one piece of the puzzle. The key to success is adoption.