Baker McKenzie’s Asia Pacific Employers’ Forum took place in Singapore on Thursday, 27 April 2023. You can access a number of related resources relating to employment issues and trends.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Blog Series: Sanctions Enforcement Around the World, the Australian Perspective on 27 April 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The Ministry of Commerce of China initiated an antidumping and countervailing duty administrative review of barley from Australia, effective from 14 April 2023. For all Australian barley exporters, this is an opportunity to revoke the existing antidumping and countervailing duties and resume exportation to China.
Join us for a four-part webinar series as our US moderators welcome colleagues from around the globe to share the latest labor and employment law updates and trends. US-based multinational employers with business operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas regions will hear directly from local practitioners on the major developments they need to know, and come away with practical tips and takeaways to implement.
Under current Australian arrangements, the “Safeguard Mechanism” requires Australian facilities that produce over 100,000 tonnes of carbon annually (or an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases), known as “Safeguard Facilities”, to keep their net emissions below a baseline (or ceiling), which has been determined on a facility specific basis. To meet its international commitments to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, the Australian government has proposed changes to the operation of the Safeguard Mechanism with the effect of reducing carbon emissions over time. Those proposed changes have now been extended to secure the political support required to enable the passage of these legislative reforms through federal parliament.
The Australian Federal Government is consulting on a new financial reporting requirement for public companies (listed and unlisted) to disclose information about their consolidated entities, including their country of tax domicile. The change will apply in relation to financial years commencing from 1 July 2023. Submissions can be made until 13 April 2023.
Australia’s new Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets is expected to commence on 1 July 2023. Expanding on the existing registers for water interests and agricultural or residential land, the new Register will record foreign interests in a broader range of Australian land, entities, businesses and assets, with significant penalties for non-compliance.
Foreign persons who acquire relevant Australian interests, as well as some Australian entities that could become “foreign” due to ownership changes, may need to implement additional compliance processes to ensure they satisfy the new requirements.
On 7 March 2023, the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, announced the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities for 2023/24 and the market studies and advocacy work that the ACCC would continue this year. Ms. Cass-Gottlieb identified a range of industry sectors, as well as specific competition and consumer law issues that will be the focus of the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement activities for 2023/24. Many of these areas continue from last year.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Australia adopts further sanctions against Russia on 27 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has released its long-awaited report on its review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which proposes widespread amendments to Australia’s flagship privacy legislation. Stakeholders have until 31 March 2023 to provide feedback to the government on the proposals.