During 2020, the Commonwealth Government introduced restrictions on the issuing of creditor’s statutory demands for payment of debt to debtor companies, increasing the threshold for debts from $2,000 to $20,000 and the time for compliance from 21 days to 6 months.

In Sara v G & S Sara Pty Ltd [2021] NSWPIC 286 the applicant made a claim for compensation after her husband passed away due to contracting the COVID-19 virus whilst on a work trip in New York. The respondent, G & S Sara Pty Ltd, was one of a group of companies in the Stoneglass Group that provided dental technician products and services across the healthcare sector in Australia and the United States, and the deceased worker was a director of each of the entities in the Stoneglass Group.

The proposed amendments to the Motor Accidents Injuries Act,Workers Compensation Act 1987, and the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 would give the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) the power to exclude service providers who are overservicing and overcharging.

Each State has a different CTP Scheme, few covering the at fault driver. In NSW, the Nominal Defendant will pay statutory benefits in those circumstances.

The NSW government has recently introduced the Motor Accidents and Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 to make changes to the workers compensation legislation largely in response to the catastrophic bush fire season of 2019. It has since passed the Legislative Assembly and awaits scrutiny in the Legislative Council.

Australia’s employment laws and regulations can be complex when applied to real world situations. Complexity, change and adaptability are challenges that all business and their employees are having to negotiate across 2021 and into 2022. As COVID adapts into increasingly threatening strains, organisations are forced to respond with new policies and approaches to reflect our changing circumstances. Some, but not all, of those changes are either mandated or guided by Government directions, laws and responses. Additionally, not all government directions cover all situations or industries.

According to the ACCC, Australian businesses lost over $132 million to business email compromise scams in 2019. One example is the invoice redirection scam, which can involve a fraudster hacking into the system of the supplier or intercepting emails and sending altered invoices to customers with different banking details. Payments made to these accounts are likely never recoverable. With work becoming increasingly digital, it is imperative for businesses to protect themselves and their customers from such scams.

From 1 July 2021, new rules apply to charities and appeals. Although there may be less red tape, the most significant changes relate to enforcement.  

The Commonwealth Government has been under considerable pressure for months to step in to respond to several high-profile incidents of sexual harassment. The recent tabling in the Commonwealth Parliament of a Bill with a raft of amendments to Commonwealth sexual harassment legislation provides additional options for employees to take action in relation to occurrences of sexual harassment. These options are both preventative and potentially much less expensive.

Following the recommendation of Justice Fagan in AAI Limited v Singh1 the Motor Accidents and Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 was tabled on 23 June 2021.

The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in Badenoch Integrated Logging Pty Ltd v Bryant, in the matter of Gunns Limited (in liq) (receivers and managers appointed)[2021] FCAFC 64 (Badenoch No. 1) has decided that the peak indebtedness rule, often relied upon by liquidators in calculating the quantum of unfair preference claims in situations where there was a continuing trading relationship between the company in liquidation and the creditor under section 588FA(3) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act), does not apply.

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payments Act1999 (The Act) is a relatively short Act that has created more than its fair share of litigation since its introduction.

In the recent case of Wahhab v Insurance Australia Ltd [2021] NSWSC 521, a Claims Assessor refused to refer a matter for Claims Assessment on the grounds the claimant had been deemed to have withdrawn their claim. The NSW Supreme Court upheld this decision. 

The current two-week lockdown in NSW is a timely reminder that COVID-19 and the risk of COVID-19 infections in the course of employment remain real, particularly for those essential workers who are unable to work from home.