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Immigration law continues to be an under appreciated area of Australian compliance. Despite this, significant penalties can apply, including civil and criminal penalties capturing company officers.

This session will focus on the essential elements of any organisational immigration policy – who should it cover, why, when and how.

Find out how to mitigate risk, manage obligations and ensure your organisation is fully compliant with this dynamic area of Australian law.

During the webinar Hammond Taylor partner, Jackson Taylor, will also provide an update on how the global pandemic is affecting Australian employer's use of the immigration program, providing a 30 minute overview of how the immigration landscape has changed since the pandemic hit our shores.

Companies often seek discretion to determine requirements to be met by individuals involved in the company's business. However, the scope and exercise of that discretion can become more challenging when the individuals concerned are not intended to be employees of the company. Creation of unintended employer liability is perhaps a greater risk at the moment, given that uncertain economic conditions have meant more businesses are looking to engage individuals under different, often short-term, arrangements.

Partners Kellie-Ann McDade and Anne Petterd take a look at scenarios for independent contractor and services contracts where the companies seeking these services may need to rethink the discretions they seek. This session will examine:

• terms customers seek to include in independent contractor and services contracts raising an employer liability risk;
• contract drafting tips drawing on recent cases on independent contractors;
• allocation of work health and safety responsibility in contracts in light of joint legislative responsibility, particularly given COVID-19 new workplace practices for health screening and collection of health data from individuals; and
• employer liability considerations for a business under outsourced off-shore arrangements.

Please note: If your company/organisation is deemed to be a competitor of the host organisation for this event, you may be excluded from attending this event. If you believe there may be a conflict or are uncertain, please enquire with ACC Australia.

Registrations for this event are being managed by Baker McKenzie directly.

Break the boredom of isolation and join your Melbourne and Canberra peers in a virtual battle of your trivia minds on Wednesday 19 August 2020 at 5.00pm, with thanks to the Victorian Bar.

This event is an opportunity to reconnect with your ACC network and colleagues, and test your general knowledge from the comfort of your own home, hosted by Katherine Brazenor. You will be placed in small teams along with barristers, so make sure you bring your A-game. 

Places are limited, so register today and BYO your drink of choice and cheese on the night!

Members - Free!

Non-members - $15

The chance of an Australian company facing a significant class action is a material and increasing business risk as Australia’s class action landscape continues to heat up. While the funding landscape continues to face scrutiny, the class action risk to Australian corporates is unlikely to abate any time soon.

This webinar hosted by leading Disputes + Investigations experts Richard Harris and Colleen Platford, with insights from Corporate Advisory partner Tim Gordon, will explore the boiling Australian class action landscape and how companies can protect against this major risk. It will cover:

•    factors contributing to the ongoing expansion of the class action regime in Australia;
•    the funding market, tightening regulations and their impact on the prevalence and nature of class actions;
•    the role of the regulator;
•    navigating the new norm of competing class action claims;
•    the future of class actions – including shareholder class actions and the rise of data breach class actions; and
•    how to mitigate against the risk of a class action.

Please note: If your company/organisation is deemed to be a competitor of the host organisation for this event, you may be excluded from attending this event. If you believe there may be a conflict or are uncertain, please enquire with ACC Australia.

Businesses are operating in an increasingly complex and high stakes regulatory environment. With the ACCC’s role expanding and penalties increasing, scrutiny has never been more intense.  At the same time, many of the provisions of the ­Competition and Consumer Law Act require thought and some sophistication to ensure compliance. 

Join Gilbert + Tobin competition experts Jennifer Barron and Rebecca Dollisson for a live webinar that will provide an update on current issues in competition law including:

• the ACCC’s enforcement activity and priorities;
• concerted practices; and
• gun jumping.

This webinar will also provide you with some practical suggestions for assessing and mitigating competition law risk within your organisation.

Please note: If your company/organisation is deemed to be a competitor of the host organisation for this event, you may be excluded from attending this event. If you believe there may be a conflict or are uncertain, please enquire with ACC Australia.

In-house counsel are often tasked with negotiating contracts with Federal or State governments or their agencies for the supply of goods or services or provision of works, or for the delivery (including construction and financing) and/or operation of public infrastructure such as transport, schools and hospitals. Contracting with government raises some unique legal issues and particular challenges which can trip up the unwary and give rise to risk of contract termination, invalidity or unenforceability.  Governments themselves and their agencies also face policy issues and requirements which need to be addressed in contracts with the private sector.

Join William McCann and Peter Doyle from Gilbert + Tobin’s award winning Banking + Infrastructure team for a live webinar on the tips and traps of government contracting.

Hosted in conjunction with ACC Australia, this webinar will cover a range of topics relevant to both corporate and government lawyers, including:​

• the nature of the government contracting party (Crown v government agency v statutory corporation);
• source of capacity and power to contract, authority to sign and bind and the doctrine of ultra vires;
• Crown powers, privileges and immunities (including the rule against fettering, appropriation of funds and satisfaction of court judgements);
• Government policy around ethical, sustainable and socially responsible procurement and implementation;
• privacy issues and government reporting and disclosure requirements;
• government probity policies and their implementation in practice; and
• risk sharing and managing contracts with government.

Please note: If your company/organisation is deemed to be a competitor of the host organisation for this event, you may be excluded from attending this event. If you believe there may be a conflict or are uncertain, please enquire with ACC Australia.

Please join Griffith Hack Principal, Kellie Stonier and ACC Australia for this informative webinar: Evidencing Trade Mark Use and Reputation in Proceedings. 

In-house counsel can expect to take away important information on the following aspects of Evidencing Trade Mark Use and Reputation:

1. Demonstrating an acquired reputation
2. Wayback Machine evidence
3. Authorised use: evidence of control by the owner
4. Irrelevant evidence: are costs an issue?

Please join Swaab Partner, Helen Kowal and ACC Australia for this informative webinar: Construction Contracts - what to look out for and new developments.

In-house counsel can expect to take away important information on the following aspects of construction contracts:

1. What construction contract should you use?
2. Is a bespoke contract necessary or can you adapt a standard form of contract?
3. Key terms to look out for 
4. Force Majeure clauses
5. The benefits of Superintendent/Project Managers
6. Recent building reform in NSW
   a. what is the current state of play in the NSW Construction Industry
   b. discussing the implications of the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and the Residential Apartments (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020.

Every organisation needs to continually adapt and evolve. Left behind in the never-ending process of change lies data, and knowing what data you have is half the battle.

What data is ROT (Redundant, Obsolete or Trivial) and should be deleted in line with data retention and minimisation principles? What data must be secured and managed appropriately with regards to the latest data protection and privacy regulations? And how do you keep pace with the explosion of data in your organisation going forward?

Join ACC Australia and Exterro to explore the good, the bad and the ugly of data management practices and how your organisation can get to grips with managing it's data appropriately.

The ACC Victorian Committee warmly invites you to join us for another virtual coffee in lockdown, this time with a special focus on the topic of “Pro Bono” work. 

The event will be held on Friday 14th August on Zoom from 11.30am-12.30pm, and will comprise of a short introduction to the topic followed by small group discussions in Zoom “break out” rooms.  

We are keen to understand from our members:  
•    Who does (or has in the past done) Pro Bono work? What is involved? What difficulties do you encounter? Are you looking to do more Pro Bono or less? 
•    Who doesn’t do Pro Bono work but would like to? What are the blockers to your involvement? What time commitment could you make? Are there any particular Pro Bono activities that you are interested in?
•    What does a successful Pro Bono program look like? Share with us your positive (and negative) Pro Bono experiences!
•    What support would you like from ACC Australia in this space? 

If you are not able to attend but are interested in contributing to our discussion, we’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the above questions by emailing ausevents@accglobal.com.