From 12 November 2016, small businesses will receive important protection from unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts.

On 10 October 2016, the Federal Government released an Exposure Draft to amend the debt and equity rules in Division 974 of Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 for the purpose of implementing recommendations made by the Board of Taxation in its April 2015 report Review of the Debt and Equity Tax Rules.

Harwood Andrews was a gold sponsor of this year’s Mellow in the Yellow fundraising event held on 8 October 2016. One of our senior associates, Euphemie Barr, was on the event committee and helped coordinate various aspects of the event. 

Harwood Andrews have added another Law Institute of Victoria Specialist to an already impressive line-up of legal professionals. 

It is an unfortunate fact of life that running a business will not always go smoothly, and occasionally disputes will arise between business owners and business investors. A unit trust is a popular structure for conducting a business, but it has traditionally presented business owners and investors with some difficulty when seeking to resolve their disputes. 

The Government has released the second round of draft rules for the implementation of the superannuation reform package announced in the 2016-2017 budget, which includes draft legislation for the 5 year concessional contributions catch-up measure.

The Government has released the second round of  draft rules for the implementation of the superannuation reform package announced in the 2016-2017 budget. This tranche includes the draft legislation for the proposed $1.6 million super pension cap, which essentially limits the amount that a member can hold in a pension account to $1.6 million from 1 July 2017.

The Government has released its second tranche of draft legislation to implement the proposed superannuation budget measures. 

Labour hire companies will take some comfort in a recent decision of the full bench of the Fair Work Commission in an unfair dismissal case.

It’s FOOTY FINALS TIME!  With the two Sydney teams, Sydney Swans and GWS Giants, doing battle with Geelong and the Western Bulldogs respectively in this weekend’s preliminary finals, fans will be flocking to both the MCG and Spotless Stadium tonight and tomorrow for the big games

Many in the community anxiously await the decision by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on weekend penalty rates.  The Full Bench of the FWC recently issued further directions for further evidence to be adduced in order to assist it in coming to a decision.  That will mean a final decision will not be made for a number of months.

As the entertainment media lights up like a Christmas tree with headlines of the split of power couple ‘Brangelina’ and news that Angelina will file for divorce and ‘physical’ custody of their 6 children, many are left asking what this all means.

The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has confirmed that notices of employee representational rights given by an employer after the end of the 14 day period required by the Fair Work Act were invalid because of their lateness, and for that reason, the enterprise agreement they related to could not be approved.  

The announcement of the $500,000 lifetime non-concessional contributions cap in the 2016-2017 budget was not only controversial, especially given what was widely perceived as its retrospective operation, but raised many questions as to how it would be applied. The Government has announced that the proposed lifetime cap will not proceed but will be replaced by a new measure.

Short stay online accommodation services such as Airbnb and Stayz, do not enjoy universal acceptance. The alleged behaviour of some guests have seen attempts to control their activities, with mixed results.

The Government has confirmed that the proposed increase of the aggregated turnover threshold for small business entities of $10 million will apply to the Small Business Restructure Roll-over relief provisions available from 1 July 2016.

Sporting clubs and incorporated associations need to make sure that paid workers and volunteers who engage in “child-related” work have a valid Working with Children Check. 

In this case, the Federal Court held that including a retention of title clause in standard terms and conditions is sufficient to give rise to a security interest and provide a defence to a recovery claim by a liquidator.

Harwood Andrews has once again been recognised as a leader in the Australian legal industry through their recent nomination as a finalist in the 2016 Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards.