Gadens Regulatory Recap – 27 June 2023

This edition of the Gadens’ Regulatory Recap considers a series of updates from ASIC, APRA, AUSTRAC, ACMA and Treasury exploring a number of significant policy and legislative updates, as well as details on the latest enforcement actions being taken by the regulators. ASIC ASIC invites entities to assess their cyber resilience: ASIC has invited ASIC-regulated […]

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The decision is clear – the AAT confirms that the Privacy Act applies to Clearview AI’s conduct

As briefly noted in our Gadens Regulatory Recap on 30 May 2023, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has recently handed down its decision regarding the conduct of Clearview AI Inc (Clearview AI), confirming the applicability of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) to the conduct of entities overseas, and recent amendments to the Privacy […]

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Australian Payments Systems reform – Seven proposed Payment Functions to replace non-cash licensing regime

As part of the Government’s ambitious Strategic Plan for Australia’s Payments System unveiled this month, Treasury also published the Payment System Modernisation (Licensing: Defining Payment Functions) Consultation paper (Consultation Paper). The Consultation Paper invites feedback on the proposed list of defined Payment Functions that would be regulated under the new licensing framework proposed under the […]

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Privacy Act Reforms – will individuals’ rights impact your business?

It has only been three months since the Attorney General’s Office released its report (Report) on the proposed amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). The Report made 116 recommendations for reform. The recommended reforms are extensive and will, if implemented, have a substantial effect on how businesses regulated under the Privacy Act […]

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Futureproofing Australia’s Payment System: Unveiling the Government’s Strategic Plan

The Australian Government has released its Strategic Plan for Australia’s Payments System (Strategic Plan). The Strategic Plan follows on from the Treasury’s Consultation Paper released in December 2022 and outlines a raft of proposed legislative and policy changes to the current payments system regulatory framework. The foreshadowed changes are significant and far-reaching and are aimed […]

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Employers, brace for changes to the Privacy Act’s employee record exemption

With everything and everyone moving online, going paperless and adopting flexible work practices, it’s no wonder employers are collecting more and more personal information, including sensitive personal information, from their employees. The employee record exemption At present, an organisation acting in its capacity as the employer (or former employer) of an individual in relation to […]

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FMCG Express | March 2023 Edition

The latest edition of FMCG Express goes straight to the heart of legal issues affecting corporate Australia in 2023; reforms to unfair contracts legislation; changes to the Fair Work Act; privacy law amendments; and cyber and data security. Partner Breanna Davies and the Gadens team of contributors are at the forefront of the analysis of […]

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Mandatory notifiable data breach scheme introduced for NSW government agencies

In a time of significant changes to the privacy landscape, not least the confirmed passing by the Senate yesterday afternoon of the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement & Other Measures) Bill, 2022 to increase fines and enhance the OAIC powers (see our recent article here), further well overdue changes were also announced for the public sector. […]

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Good news for consumers? New Digital Platform laws to combat fake reviews, scams and unfair practices proposed

Last Friday the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its 5th report of the Digital Platform Services Inquiry. The much anticipated report deals with the competition and consumer issues raised in the Digital Platform Services Inquiry, the Digital Advertising Services Inquiry (2020-2021) and the Digital Platform Inquiry (2017-2019). Digital platforms are online spaces for […]

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The Privacy landscape is heating up – but will tougher penalties and an expanded reach have the desired effect?

After a number of significant and high-profile cyber incidents in the last few weeks, it was almost inevitable the Government would take steps to fast-track its privacy reform agenda by seeking to push through headline-grabbing changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). Following the Attorney’s General (AG)’s foreshadowing on 22 October, 2022, the […]

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Significant increases to Competition and Consumer Law penalties proposed

Last Friday afternoon, Treasury released exposure draft legislation proposing significant increases to the maximum penalties that apply to various contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) by companies and individuals. Interested parties will have to be quick with any comments on the proposed changes, because public consultation […]

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Did Google get off lightly? ACCC v Google and ACL penalty regime changes

The Federal Court has handed down its penalty decision in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google LLC (No 4) [2022] FCA 942 (ACCC v Google)[1], confirming its landmark findings against the tech giant from late last year[2]. Google LLC (Google US), the parent company of Google Australia Pty Ltd (Google Australia), was ordered to […]

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