COUNTERFEIT IMPORTS – TOUGHER PENALTIES AT THE BORDER
The Customs Legislation Amendment (False Trade Marks Infringement Notices) Bill 2026 (“Bill”) amends the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 (Cth) (“CTD Act”) and the Customs Regulation 2015[1] (“Customs Regulation”) and seeks to strengthen Australia's response to the importation of counterfeit goods. The Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 25 [...]
To Scan or Not to Scan – Administrative Review Tribunal decision on Bunnings’ use of facial recognition tech
The Administrative Review Tribunal (Tribunal) recently set aside the Privacy Commissioner’s (Commissioner) 2024 determination[1] that Bunnings Group Limited’s (Bunnings) had acted unlawfully in its use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in stores, finding that Bunnings conduct in scanning customer faces fell within a statutory exception of [...]
FRANCHISORS TAKE NOTE
In Australia, the conduct between franchisors and franchisees is regulated by the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Franchising) Regulations 2024 (“Franchising Code of Conduct”). The Franchising Code of Conduct is a mandatory industry code enacted pursuant to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (“CCA”), and [...]
THE SPAM ACT – AN UPDATE
In Australia, the Spam Act 2003 (‘Spam Act’) contains requirements in relation to the sending of commercial electronic messages (‘CEMs’) which include, but are not limited to, SMS and email messages. Section 16 of the Spam Act expressly prohibits the sending of unsolicited CEMs that [...]
GREENWASHING: IT’S NOT ALL GLAD
In today’s world, it is not unusual for businesses to make claims about the environmental benefits of their services or products to consumers- it is however important to ensure that those claims are accurate. “Greenwashing” is a term, which generally speaking, refers to the making [...]
Major Changes to Australia’s Cyber Security Landscape
In the wake of increasing data breaches,[1] on 29 November 2024, the Government passed its new tranche of legislative measures under its 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy seeking to address legislative gaps, and bring Australia in line with international standards.[2] The Cyber Security Act 2024 [...]
Further update to Australia’s privacy law reforms
In our previous article, we reported on the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (Cth) (“Bill”). The Bill passed both Houses of Parliament on 29 November 2024 and received Royal Assent on 10 December 2024.[1] As foreshadowed, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 [...]
Update to ‘Privacy Act – Reform is on the Way’
As we reported in our previous article (https://pointonpartners.com.au/privacy-act-reform-is-on-the-way/), the Federal Government released a Privacy Act Review Report (“Review”) last year foreshadowing changes to privacy legislation in Australia. A response to the recommendations outlined in the Review was then released by the Federal Government following feedback [...]
European Union Artificial Intelligence Act
In this digital age, it is interesting to note that legislation known as the “Artificial Intelligence Act” (“Act”) was recently approved by the European Parliament on March 13, 2024.[1] The Act aims “to promote the uptake of human centric and trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) while [...]
Pointon Partners AGM LAWORLD SYDNEY
Further reflecting on the success of the AGM of LAWorld in Sydney, with some additional photos of our team at the fantastic event. We again give thanks to all of our LAWorld network for a successful and informative AGM and very much look forward to [...]