Author: Dr Sheelagh McCracken
This paper offers an overview of the new personal property securities regime, focusing on the scope and nature of the new form of security interest and the means by which such an interest obtains ‘optimal protection’ under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth). Assuming no prior knowledge of the Act, it examines in particular the concepts of ‘security interest’, ‘attachment’, ‘enforceability against third parties’ and ‘perfection’, placing them within a suggested analytical framework.
Adverse action claims under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth): some lessons from the early cases
Author: Joellen Riley
The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) has consolidated the protection of a range of employees’ workplace rights in a single part of the legislation dealing with General Protections (Part 3-1). These provisions injunct a ‘person’ from taking ‘adverse action’ against another person, because the other person is exercising a ‘workplace right’. After two years in operation, the provisions are producing some case law. This article notes some lessons from the cases so far.
Obligations of good faith in the performance of commercial agreements
Author: Robert Angyal SC
This paper deals with three questions:
• Will Australian law imply into commercial agreements an obligation to act in good faith?
• What does such an obligation mean and how can one determine whether it has been complied with?
• In particular, what does a contract to negotiate in good faith mean?
The ACCC's new enforcement powers
Authors: Kon Stellios and Liana Witt
On 1 January 2011, the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) was renamed the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA). On the same date, the second and final legislative instalments came into effect to create the new Australian Consumer Law (ACL); a body of uniform consumer protection laws which apply in all jurisdictions in Australia.
The new remedies and powers available in respect of certain provisions of the ACL are:
• civil pecuniary penalties of up to $1.1 million per contravention;
• ability for regulators to seek redress for non-party consumers;
• disqualification orders to restrict or ban individuals from managing corporations;
• infringement notices for suspected contraventions of certain ACL provisions;
• substantiation notices requiring businesses to verify claims or representations; and
• public warning notice powers.
This paper discusses each of the new powers and remedies and explores the extent to which they have been embraced and utilised by the ACCC.