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A Failure to Consult: The Fair Work Commission...

Making logical changes to workplace processes should be simple and straight forward. However, a recent decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) confirms that employers still need to make sure they follow the additional step of proper employee consultation, or risk a poor outcome in the Commission. This means managers need to ensure employees' feedback has not only been sought, but also be able to demonstrate how employee feedback has influenced the process and been accounted for in the final outcome(s).

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Hicksons recognised in Doyle’s Guide 2024

We are delighted to be recognised as a leading law firm in the 2024 Doyle’s Guide across the following categories:

Firm News

Special Counsel Kezia David Named Among...

Special Counsel Kezia David recognised among Australasian Lawyer’s Elite Women 2024 for excellence in insurance law.

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Blog

Prosecution under hazardous waste legislation fails for lack of evidence

In a recent case in the criminal jurisdiction of the New South Wales Local Court the prosecution failed because the magistrate held that there was no evidence capable of establishing one of the elements of the offence. The alleged offence was breach of the Commonwealth Hazardous Wastes (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989 (“the HWA”) relating to alleged breach of a permit for the export from Australia to Belgium of scrap lithium ion batteries as hazardous waste. The prosecution was brought against the corporate exporter as the holder of the export permit.

24 Jul 2019

Blog

Aviation: struck out for being too late

Australia’s highest court the High Court of Australia (“HCA”) has recently confirmed unanimously that a claim for personal injuries arising out of the death of or injury to a passenger in an aircraft (“the incident”) must be brought within two years of the date of the incident pursuant to section 34 of the Commonwealth Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959 (“CACLA”).

20 May 2019

Blog

Transport operators and storage facilities face increased liability under recent Australian Consumer Law Amendments

Amendments to the Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”), which is a schedule to the Commonwealth Competition and Consumer Act 2010, passed by the Commonwealth Parliament on 18 October 2018 are likely to increase the exposure of domestic land transport and storage facility operators for goods damaged during transportation or storage.

10 Dec 2018

Blog

Australian High Court in Landmark Ruling on Attempted Price Fixing Between Travel Agent and Airlines

The Australian High Court recently upheld an appeal by the Australian competition regulator (“the ACCC”) that a travel agent Flight Centre (“Flight Centre”) engaged in attempted price fixing in contravention of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (“TPA”) now the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (“CCA”) when it attempted to prevent several airlines from undercutting it on airfare prices. The High Court decision was a majority decision of 4:1.

22 Dec 2016

Blog

Up up and away for drones

From 29 September 2016 new rules for the operation of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) in Australia will come into effect.

1 Sep 2016

Blog

Australia’s first successful shipping criminal cartel prosecution

Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kubushiki Karsha (“NYK”) has pleaded guilty to charges of criminal cartel conduct in the Federal Court of Australia.

11 Aug 2016

Blog

Boost for Australian Merchant Shipping Fleet

The Australian ocean merchant shipping fleet has been in steady decline for decades. Not even the much heralded reforms by the previous Federal Government in 2012 designed to boost the Australian merchant fleet have managed to halt that decline. In the past two years the Australian ocean merchant fleet fell by a third from 21 vessels to only 14.

9 Jun 2016

Blog

Australian Government defeats tobacco company challenge to Plain Packaging Cigarette Legislation

In a decision eagerly awaited globally an international investment treaty arbitration tribunal came down in favour of the Australian Government in respect to the challenge by Philip Morris Asia Limited to Australia’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Regulations 2011 made pursuant to the Australian Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (collectively “the Legislation”).

23 May 2016

Blog

Parliament listens to road haulage contractor drivers’ concerns

Segments of the road haulage industry have been up in arms in recent weeks over the Contractor Driver Minimal Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 (RSRO) which is now in operation nationally despite a recent short term stay ordered by the Federal Court of Australia.

16 Apr 2016

Blog

Reform of Australian Country of Origin Food Labelling Laws

The Commonwealth and State Consumer Affairs Ministers have agreed to reform country of origin labelling for food to give Australian consumers clearer and more meaningful information about the source of the food they buy. The reforms are expected to commence from 1 July 2016 and business will have a two year transition period to bed down the new arrangements.

6 Apr 2016

Blog

Airlines lose cartel appeal

On 21 March, the Full Federal Court (FFC) upheld an appeal from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and found that Air New Zealand and Garuda Airlines of Indonesia were guilty of fixing surcharges for the carriage of air cargo from outside Australia to Australian airports in breach of the anti-cartel provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Act). The surcharges, the subject of the cartel arrangements, were charged to Australian importers who then passed them on to consumers.

23 Mar 2016

Blog

First Gorgon LNG Shipment Departs Australia

A major milestone has been reached in Australia’s offshore energy and shipping sector with the first shipment of LNG from the Gorgon project off the north coast of Western Australia sailing on the LNG tanker Asia Excellence earlier this week. The buyer of the cargo is Chubu Electric Power in Japan.

22 Mar 2016

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