Australia Reforms International Arbitration Legislation

Just as Australia has modernised its international arbitration legislation, two state courts have distanced themselves from the infamous Queensland Court of Appeal decision of Eisenwerk Hensel Bayreuth Dipl-Ing Burkhardt Gmbh v Australian Granites Limited [2001] 1 QD R 461 (Eisenwerk), one finding it was "plainly wrong".

On 17 June 2010, the Australian Federal Senate passed amendments to the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth) (the Federal Act), which are intended to improve the efficiency of arbitration proceedings in Australia and thus enhance the attractiveness of Australia as an international arbitration venue. These reforms anticipate new legislation by Australian states to conform domestic arbitration laws to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the Model Law). A significant change is that the old s 21, which permitted parties to opt-out of the Model Law into more permissive state arbitration laws, has been replaced by a new