There have been a number of legal developments in the small business sector which should be welcomed as wins for small business operators.  This alert provides a summary of three of those developments that are particularly relevant following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s release of its Small Business in Focus report for the six months to June 2015.

Schools collect and receive personal and sensitive information on a daily basis. What are the legal requirements for managing and using this data? Much of the personal and sensitive information collected by schools is, of course, essential to their day-to-day running.

Contrary to common belief, local councils and officers acting on their behalf are subject to the provisions of the Competition & Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), just like any other entity engaged in trade or commerce.

Following on from an advisory report into the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014 (Cth) (Data Retention Bill), released on 27 February this year, the Federal Government has now accepted recommendations to develop a mandatory data breach notification scheme.

The Government released draft legislation yesterday in relation to extending the unfair contract term protections to small businesses. 

Once the legislation has been passed, a court will have the ability to declare an unfair term in a standard form small business contract void. Under the proposed legislation, a contract will be a small business contract if:

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) requires organisations to take “reasonable steps” to ensure that all Personal Information held is secure and protected from misuse, interference, loss and disclosure.

Sham charities established to take advantage of generous donors seeking to help victims of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu have come to the attention of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)

Throughout the 2014 calendar year, the ACCC’s consumer law activities involved:

• Instigating Federal Court proceedings in relation to 20 consumer protection matters and 8 competition matters;
• Accepting 14 consumer protection undertakings from businesses; and
• Issuing 15 infringement notices.

The ACNC have announced that up to 1,400 ACNC registered charities face deregistration unless they lodge their Annual Information Statement (AIS) by 30 March 2015. Each of these charities has failed to lodge their AIS for 2 consecutive years.  If deregistered, they will no longer be eligible for charity tax concessions including income tax, fringe benefit tax and GST.

The ACCC is continuing to crack down on unfair contract terms and has instituted Federal Court proceedings against CLA Trading Pty Ltd trading as “Europcar Australia” (Europcar) that could see refunds to consumers who have paid Europcar money pursuant to the specific contract terms that are currently under the scrutiny of the Court. 

In recent times, the Department of Immigration has significantly stepped up its monitoring of subclass 457 sponsors, with the number of sanctions imposed on sponsoring employers increasing by 68%.

In today’s retail environment, businesses regularly offer customers extended warranties for an additional price. When offering an extended warranty, it is crucial for the business to ensure that any offer for an extended warranty complies with the customer protections set out in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). 

A total of $8.3 million in penalties was imposed by the Federal Court upon two forklift gas supply companies, Renegade Gas Pty Ltd (Renegade), Speed-E-Gas (NSW) Pty Ltd (Speed-E-Gas) and three individuals of the two companies, for engaging in cartel conduct restricting competition.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have instituted proceedings against the well-known Christmas hamper company, Chrisco.

The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA) has imposed upon businesses a new and complex regime that is laden with very technical terms and concepts that can be difficult to fully understand.

When the Rolling Stones cancelled not one but two Australian concerts in 2014, the ticket providers offered refunds to those concert ticket holders. But what about the cost of flights or accommodation?

The Australian Law Reform Commission released a Discussion Paper, Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era which set out over 40 proposals for reform, including new causes of action for invasion of privacy.  A Summary Report has recently been published which recommends the adoption of a great many of those proposals.

On 12 March 2014, significant changes to the Privacy Act 1988 took effect that included the introduction of a more comprehensive credit reporting system, and the introduction of a set of Australian Privacy Principles, which set out the standards, rights and obligations in relation to the collecting, handling, holding, access and correction of personal information.

In a report setting out its work in the small business sector between 1 January and 30 June 2014 the ACCC has claimed it is committed to protecting the interests of small business and enforcing the Australian Consumer Law.

The definition of a “motor vehicle” under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA) was amended on 1 July 2014. The definition has been significantly narrowed and now excludes a great deal of motorised equipment that was previously subject to the motor vehicle provisions