As you may be aware, the NSW Government has now introduced some important new amendments to core components of the legislative regime affecting the management of local government within NSW.

Few will now argue that the global recession has arrived. Forecasts for 2009 are generally far from optimistic and the effects are already being felt here in Australia.

The federal government’s Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program (EEO Program) was established in July 2006. Its primary aim is to assist large consumers of energy to identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency. It achieves this by requiring businesses that are large users of energy to identify, evaluate and report publicly on cost-effective energy savings opportunities.

The federal government has commissioned some reviews of the Temporary Business Entry Programme and has recently announced immediate changes taking place to the way Subclass 457 – Business Long Stay Visa applications are being processed.

On 26 October 2009, the bipartisan House Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts (Committee) presented its report on the inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on coastal communities –"Managing our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate: the Time to Act is Now".

Explore the unprecedented voluntary administration process that facilitated the sale and restructuring of Virgin Australia, the largest insolvency case in recent Australian history. Industry experts including the administrators, financial advisors, and legal counsel share their firsthand experiences navigating this complex corporate rescue.

With the election well and truly decided, it is interesting to consider what changes the industry could be facing under the new Labor Government.

The Federal Court has not adopted the ALRC recommendations but has simplified and streamlined the discovery process.

Social media is an important medium for both formal and informal engagements in Australian tertiary institutions.

The case confirms that engineering designers are required to check previous designs and make corrections where required.

The Murray-Darling Basin (Basin) is the catchment area for the Murray and Darling Rivers and their tributaries, extending from north of Roma in Queensland to Goolwa in South Australia. It supports Australia’s most important agricultural region and has 16 wetlands that are recognised under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

In 2008, a Panel and Advisory Committee was appointed by the Victorian Minister for Planning in respect of a planning permit application for subdivision of coastal land in Port Fairy under the Moyne Planning Scheme. The application concerned a 22 lot residential subdivision of a 4.2 hectare parcel of land on the coastal sand dunes at Port Fairy, located along the western Victorian coastline. The land is straddled by the Moyne River floodplain and direct beach frontage on the eastern side of the

Amendments to the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 commenced on 1 July 2008 introducing 'Ordinary Time Earnings' as the earnings base against which employers are required to calculate the minimum SG contributions payable in respect of eligible employees.

The <em>Water Industry Competition Act</em> 2006 ("Act") commenced on 8 August 2008 to a fanfare which failed to rate against the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics!

The release of the much anticipated National Broadband Network (NBN) Implementation study.

The foreign investment screening framework has recently been reformed to help boost Australia's growth as the global economy recovers.

To assist the Australian property industry in coping with the effects of the global credit crisis the Federal Government announced on 24 January 2009 the establishment of the $4 billion Australian Business Investment Partnership (ABIP).

The Federal parliament recently passed the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) A Act (No. 1) 2010 (the Consumer Law Act), which represents stage one of the Government’s shake up of consumer protection laws.

In its 2007 – 2008 Compliance Program, the ATO identified a number of "potential revenue risks" in relation to private equity. Amongst other things, these included the treatment of distributions to investors in unit trusts or other private equity investment vehicles, and whether the characterisation of those payments (revenue or capital) accords with the tax law.

On 24 December 2008 the Victorian Government released information on the form of the proposed "Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution" (GAIC).