The Victorian State Government last week released its 2021-2022 Budget. Although aimed at a broad cross-section of the State, the Budget’s revenue raising measures primarily targeted landowners, property developers and gender exclusive clubs.

COVID-19 has taught us to expect the unexpected. Australians are generally positive people with a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to all aspects of life including in business. However, COVID-19 has caused many people to question that attitude and as a result many are now understanding the importance of planning for the worst-case scenario.

For some time, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been carefully examining the impact of the dominant digital platforms on competition and Australian consumers. This culminated in the start of 5-year ‘digital platform services enquiry’.

The Horticulture Code of Conduct is a mandatory industry code prescribed under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and we’re expecting increased enforcement activity from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2021 in line with ACCC’s continued concerns about the supply of perishable agriculture products and agricultural supply chain arrangements generally.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, residential landlords have been riding the wave of rent reduction, rent freezing, mortgage freezing as well as a hiatus on eviction notices (with a few exceptions). On top of this, the Victorian Government has set up a system of new rental rules and requirements.

On 26 March 2021, the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) was amended to change workplace rights and obligations for casual employees. The changes were made by the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 (Amendment Act). These changes came into effect on 27 March 2021.