Treasury issued a discussion paper on improving bankruptcy and insolvency laws in April 2016. Aside from a proposal to shorten the period of bankruptcy, the majority of discussion has been around the introduction of a safe harbour regime to allow directors to...

Over the last few years considerable uncertainty has arisen in relation to the position of a liquidator appointed to a company which operates as trustee of a trust, particularly a trading trust.  It is long established that trustees are entitled to be indemnified...

The Queensland Government recently passed the Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Act 2016, which commenced operation on 27 April 2016.  The Act amends the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to give the Department of Environment and Heritage...

In a number of recent cases, the Federal Court of Australia has lifted the corporate veil and found employees and directors personally liable for breaches of industrial relations laws and standards.  This is the result of section 550 of the Fair Work Act 2009...

With over $1.9 trillion worth of aggregated assets in Australian superannuation funds, it is really no surprise that your superannuation can be one of your largest assets at the time of your demise.  What is surprising, however, is that many Australians do not have a...

Are you separating?  Do you know someone who is?  Discussing and agreeing on important matters such as who the children should live with, who will retain the home and whether the superannuation should be split, is a crucial step in the process. What most people don’t...

Release of draft Productivity Commission report As reported in the media, the Productivity Commission recently released its draft report into the workplace relations framework. The report summarised the current workplace relations system as “not dysfunctional” and in...

Introduction As of 1 July 2015, the third phase of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 came into force, resulting in a number of significant changes for the building industry. The changes include an overhaul of...