A tectonic shift – Australia’s first dedicated Cyber Security Act

Hot off the heels of its first tranche of reforms to the Privacy Act, the Federal Government has released a raft of cyber security legislation to ‘achieve Australia’s vision of being a world leader in cyber security by 2030’,[1] including Australia’s first dedicated ‘Cyber Security Act.’ Minister for Cyber Security Tony Burke introduced the: Cyber […]

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Government publishes Consultation on the Mandatory Guardrails for AI in high-risk settings

In a busy period for Government on technology and data law reforms, in conjunction with its ongoing reviews of AI technology and systems, and complementing the Voluntary AI Safety Standard unveiled by Minister Ed Husic, the Federal Government recently released its ‘Proposals Paper for introducing mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings’ (Paper) as an […]

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First Tranche of Privacy Act Reforms enter Parliament

The long-awaited Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) reforms are finally here, with the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 presented before Parliament yesterday. After almost four years since the commencement of the Privacy Act Review, the Government has introduced the first ‘tranche’ of these reforms. In tabling before Parliament, the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus […]

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Privacy & Data Law Series | Where are we now?

2024 is proving to be another significant year in the evolving privacy and data law environment. We have had some watershed announcements following the developments that took place during 2023, including the Government’s proposal to fast-track to August 2024 certain of the agreed changes proposed in their response to the Privacy Act Review Report (in particular […]

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Doing business in Australia

The Gadens Doing business in Australia guide provides foreign investors with an overview of the Australian business, economic and regulatory environment, as well as practical advice on how to go about setting up and doing business in Australia. Australia is an ideal investment location for foreign companies looking to grow internationally, benefitting from well-developed infrastructure, […]

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OAIC Medibank action a wakeup call for organisations to uplift privacy compliance

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has made data breaches a regulatory priority for 2023-2024, with an increased focus on regulatory action where there may be serious failures to take reasonable steps to protect personal information, inappropriate data retention practices or failures to comply with the notification procedure from the Notifiable Data Breaches […]

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AI’s Ultron Moment – Johansson Takes on OpenAI Over Uncanny Voice Resemblance

You’ve heard of a lookalike, but have you heard of a soundalike? The Aural Uncanny Valley: it’s something that sounds the same as something else, but is just not quite right.  New generative AI (gen-AI) tools have boldly gone where no human has gone before, using AI-generated voices to create song covers by your favourite […]

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FMCG Express | March 2024 Edition

In this edition of FMCG Express we consider the regulatory landscape of AI, what to do when you receive a (potentially) defamatory online review, recent Fair Work Act changes (particularly how these changes affect casual workers), and we consider specifics around ESG reporting. Partner Breanna Davies and the Gadens team have prepared this edition to […]

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Finder: ASIC to continue to pursue cases to clarify crypto regulation as the Federal Court finds that a crypto-asset is not a debenture

The Federal Court has handed down its second significant decision involving crypto assets this year. The judgment in ASIC v Finder Wallet Pty Ltd[1] (Finder) follows the recent decision in the BlockEarner case[2] and provides some further guidance for crypto-asset issuers attempting to navigate the present uncertainty around the intersection of digital assets and financial […]

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Buy Now Pay Later: the shape of the new regulatory regime

Treasury has released the much anticipated draft legislation for the regulation of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products and confirmed that BNPL providers should prepare to obtain a new or modified Australian Credit Licence and work through the impact of being regulated as credit providers on their businesses. Anti-avoidance protections promise to ensure there is […]

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New announcements made ahead of Federal Government’s updated Cyber Security Strategy release

Cyber note – New developments: Australian businesses to report cyber ransom demands under proposed no-fault system New cyber-risk reporting requirements for Australian telcos With its updated Cyber Security Strategy expected to be released next week, the Federal Government has set the scene, by making a number of early announcements. What is telling is that these […]

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Defamation – what is required to establish ‘serious harm’?

The Federal Court of Australia recently handed down a decision in Selkirk v Hocking (No 2)[1] shedding light on the serious harm element of the cause of action for defamation. Background In November 2019, Ms Selkirk was convicted of multiple counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception by using falsified receipts to return goods […]

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