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In Antitrust / Competition

Australia: New disclosure obligations on businesses dealing with consumers in NSW, come into full force from 2021

by , and 7 Mins Read

The NSW Fair Trading enforcement grace period for new disclosure obligations added to the Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) expires on 31 December 2020. The changes commenced on 1 July 2020 and imposed new disclosure obligations on affected businesses. The new disclosure obligations require:

suppliers to disclose terms or conditions of contracts that substantially prejudice consumers. The disclosures must be made before the business supplies the goods or services;1 and
intermediaries to disclose the financial incentives arrangements they have with suppliers. The disclosures must be made before the business acts under an arrangement where it may receive a commission or referral fee.2

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In Asia-Pacific

International: Presumptive Biden victory ushers in ‘race to the top’ climate change

by and 8 Mins Read

A new global paradigm for global climate action

President Elect Joseph R. Biden comes to office with what has, correctly, been called a “transformational” plan for action to curb climate change and to cope with its unavoidable consequences.

The cornerstone of his policy1 — officially called the Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice — is to recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change, and to set a target for the US to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. That target is generally accepted as being in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change which seeks to limit global climate heating to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and ideally, to keep it closer to 1.5 degrees.2

In Asia-Pacific

Australia: Presumptive Biden victory leaves Australia with work to do on climate

by , and 8 Mins Read

President-Elect Joseph R. Biden comes to office with what has, correctly, been called a “transformational” plan for action to curb climate change and to cope with its unavoidable consequences.

The cornerstone of his policy1 — officially called the Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice — is to recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change, and to set a target for the US to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. That target is generally accepted as being in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change which seeks to limit global climate heating to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and ideally, to keep it closer to 1.5 degrees.2

The impact of the world’s largest economy pivoting to this new policy cannot be understated. It is particularly important given that it tops off two months in which several of the world’s major economies have now announced net-zero commitments.

In Antitrust / Competition

Australia: Sustainability and Antitrust in Australia: An Outlier or Blueprint

by and 1 Min Read

As European competition authorities and international organizations like the OECD and ICN look to advance the debate on sustainability and antitrust, Baker McKenzie’s global antitrust knowledge lawyer Grant Murray and partner Georgina Foster explore the approach of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and ask if it can provide a…

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In Asia-Pacific

Australia: NSW State Budget 2020/21

by , , , and 8 Mins Read

The NSW State budget for 2020/21 was handed down on 17 November 2020 (“Budget”). The Budget contains measures that:

provide payroll tax relief and a program to encourage domestic and international businesses to relocate their head office, or expand their jobs footprint in NSW
allow land tax discounts
give transfer duty concessions for first home buyers and bush fire relief.

The Treasurer has also released a consultation paper setting out a significant proposal for tax reform, effectively replacing stamp duty over time with a property tax levied at higher rates than the current land tax.

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In Antitrust / Competition

Australia: Asia Pacific Competition Highlights, Q3 2020

by and 5 Mins Read

ACCC enters multilateral framework to strengthen cross-border enforcement 
Guilty plea in first criminal charge for obstructing ACCC investigation
Merger review round up; non-publication of post merger investigations
Digital Platforms Inquiry update: draft bargaining code; platforms respond 

The new framework will facilitate coordination between the ACCC and competition agencies in the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand on cross-border competition investigations. For the first time, an individual plead guilty to a criminal charge of obstructing an ACCC investigation by inciting fellow employees to give false evidence to the ACCC. The ACCC remains active in assessing merger matters, while announcing that they will no longer place post-completion investigations on the public merger register. The ACCC also published a draft bargaining code-covering payment for news content; digital platforms have heavily criticized the code.

In Asia-Pacific

Australia: Privacy reform in Australia – Issues Paper released

by , , and 7 Mins Read

The Australian Government has released comprehensive terms of reference and an issues paper (“Issues Paper”) as part of its long-awaited review of the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”). The review forms part of the government’s response in December 2019 to recommendations in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry (“DPI Report”) to strengthen privacy laws in Australia. It marks the first of two papers seeking public input on the Privacy Act.

In Antitrust and competition regulations

Australia: Unfair contract terms to become illegal and subject to penalties

by , and 5 Mins Read

In brief On 9 November 2020, the Federal Government published a Decision Regulation Impact Statement (Decision RIS), recommending significant reforms to the unfair contract terms (UCTs) regime in the ‘Australian Consumer Law’ (ACL). If passed, the reforms will result in UCT’s being illegal and will give Federal Court the power…

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