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The Federal Department of Climate Change recently released an exposure draft of legislation and regulations for the Federal Government's proposed expanded national renewable energy target scheme. Partner Grant Anderson and Lawyer John Henderson look at the draft legislation and some associated proposals

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Following on from our summary of the Federal Government's White Paper on its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme 'Australia's Low Pollution Future' , Partner Grant Anderson discusses in greater detail the assistance that is to be provided to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries. This is the first in a series of articles that examines in more depth the principal proposals contained in the White Paper

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Infrastructure Australia has released its interim report listing 94 potential projects across the country as candidates for the National Infrastructure Priority List. As Partner Ren Niemann and Lawyer Nicholas Ng write, the report released to the Council of Australian Governments last Friday also details how Infrastructure Australia will review the candidate projects to determine the final list of projects

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After three years of debate, the Bill on Mineral and Coal Mining was finally passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives on Tuesday, 16 December 2008. This new law will come into force once approved by the President and promulgated by the Ministry of Laws and Human Rights. Allens partner, David Holme and Widyawan & Partners Senior Partner, Widyawan, and Senior Associate, Ponco Prawoko, look at the key provisions of the new law

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A recent Federal Court case has dealt with the issue of whether a liquidator is personally liable for GST payable on supplies made while a company is being wound up. Partner Ross Stitt and Summer Clerk David Allen report

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The Productivity Commission has released its draft report on the Review of Regulatory Burden on the Upstream Petroleum (Oil and Gas) Sector. Partner Darren Murphy and Lawyer Viede Thipthorp look at the recommendations, which include a proposal for a national petroleum regulator.

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Our intellectual property lawyers and patent and trade marks attorneys provide an update on the latest cases and legislative developments affecting copyright, patents, trade marks, designs and personal property. We also include important Christmas/New Year closure dates for IP registration services in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and mainland China.

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Proposed changes to Victoria's stamp duty law will have far-reaching consequences that will impact on all taxpayers with dealings in dutiable property in Victoria. Partner Tony Sheehan and Senior Associate Jennee Chan examine the proposed changes

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Since 2001, Australia has renegotiated its double tax treaties with some of its major trading partners. In mostcases, the revised treaty contains an exemption from interest withholding tax that would otherwise be payable by an Australian borrower where the interest is derived by a financial institution (as defined in the treaty) resident in the country with which Australia has the relevant double tax treaty, or by the government or central bank of that country. Senior Associate Thomas McAuliffe and Partner Charles Armitage review the current state of play

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30 June 2008, we reported on the introduction of the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2008 into the NSW Parliament and the proposed key amendments to the Retirement Villages Act 1999 (NSW). The Bill was assented to on 10 December 2008, following a number of amendments made during the Bill's passage through the NSW Parliament. Senior Associate Rebecca Barr and Lawyer Alma Alic report

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The Regulation Modules which operate in conjunction the Queensland Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 have significantly amended the obligations in respect of the transfer fee payable to a body corporate on a sale or an assignment of the caretaking and letting rights of a community titles scheme in Queensland. Partner Tony Davies and Lawyer Kris Byrne report

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At midday, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, released the much-anticipated White Paper that outlines the Federal Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the medium-term target for reducing national emissions

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The long-anticipated bill for the recognition of limited partnerships in Singapore was recently passed. Partner Gavin MacLaren, Senior Associate Michael Chang and Lawyer Jonathan Teo report

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The Victorian Government has introduced a bill to extend the provisions in Part 2B of the Fair Trading Act 1999 (Vic), which prohibits the use of unfair terms in consumer contracts, to consumer credit contracts. Partner Peter Jones and Lawyer Katya Rozenblit report

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We look at an employer's discriminatory conduct against a former employee; whether a union can be regarded as a 'competent administrative authority' in an unlawful termination claim; and a Federal Court decision restraining employees, to protect their former employer's confidential information

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While the Renminbi is now readily convertible outside China, the PRC Government maintains stringent capital controls into and out of China in an effort to control and direct in-bound investment and monitor domestic investment abroad. China's State Council has taken steps to remove some of the restrictions on foreign exchange regulation of investments by domestic institutions abroad while at the same time tightening its regulation of capital flowing into China

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New legislation in Queensland will extend the duty of care a mortgagee or receiver must take when disposing of property. Partner John Gallimore looks at the background to, and the impact of, the new Act

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There have been several Australian developments during the past week in relation to the criminalisation of cartel conduct. As Partner Wendy Peter and Articled Clerk Tim Maxwell report, the ACCC, Commonwealth DPP and Federal Government have each taken action

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The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has formally endorsed and adopted the National PPP Guidelines and associated guidance material prepared by Infrastructure Australia. Partner Leighton O'Brien and Lawyer Nicholas Ng report on the outcome of COAG's 29 November meeting

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The Queensland Government has introduced a Bill to alter the operation of section 85 of the state's Property Law Act. As Partner Michael Ilott explains, the Bill introduced yesterday is expected to become law this week

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Partner Andrea Martignoni, Special Counsel Nicola Nygh and lawyer Anna Brown comment on the recent announcement made by the Attorney-General regarding the review of the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth) and the promising signs of reform in the arena of international arbitration

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In a recent case, the Federal Court of Australia considered the validity of shareholder proxy forms that are forwarded via an intermediary to the company holding the general meeting. Justice McKerracher found that, although there is no express requirement under the Corporations Act, for practical reasons, proxy forms should be returned directly to the company holding the general meeting, rather than via an intermediate party

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The Senate this month passed the Federal Government's legislation to clarify component pricing laws. Partner David Brewster and Lawyer Adel Mohamed report on the amending Bill

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Insureds may be entitled to a refund of stamp duty paid on general insurance placed prior to 20 June 2006 with persons who were not registered or authorised general insurers under the Insurance Act 1973 (Cth). Partners Adrian Chek and Malcolm Stephens and Senior Associate Chris Peadon report on a recent decision of the NSW Supreme Court

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued its revised Merger Guidelines 2008. Released on 21 November, the Guidelines replace the ACCC's 1999 Merger Guidelines. Partner Fiona Crosbie and Senior Associates Charles Coorey and Helen Anness report

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Thailand's Ministry of Commerce recently issued an advice concerning the ability of a majority foreign-owned Thai company to grant a guarantee. The advice has important implications for all majority foreign-owned Thai companies and their ability to grant guarantees and, by extension, mortgages and other security for third-party debts. International Partner Marcus Clark and Senior Associate Rawat Chomsri report on the implications of the advice

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Organisations that do not provide websites accessible to disabled persons risk disability discrimination claims. Partner Belinda Thompson and Senior Associate Joanna Musk report on best practice guidelines issued by the Australian Human Rights Commission (formerly the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) to assist organisations to achieve accessibility

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A new top level domain, .tel, is due to be launched on 3 December 2008, and marks the dawn of a completely new type of domain name. Instead of linking to a website, a .tel domain will lead directly to a page containing contact information for the person holding the domain name. The aim is to create a global 'e-directory', by which users can quickly locate contact information for businesses and individuals, without the need to browse entire websites or search multiple directories. Senior Associate Rebecca Sadleir reports

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The Western Australian Supreme Court has considered the effect of using 'nil' and 'N/A' in Annexure Part A to the Australian Standard General Conditions of Contract AS2124. Partner Michael Hollingdale and Law Graduate Robert French report

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The long-awaited enabling legislation for carbon capture and storage in Commonwealth offshore waters has been passed by the Federal Parliament. Partner Anna Collyer and Lawyer Damien Hughes look at the important last-minute Senate amendments to the legislation

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Partner John Edmond and Lawyer Justin Simpkins look at some of the decisions in the last 12 months of the courts of Australia and England which relate to the reinsurer/reinsured relationship

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The present global meltdown has put directors in an invidious position: they may have assets on their books that they consider to be very valuable but little access to funding to borrow against them and little interest from buyers at what they consider to be appropriate values. This may be because potential buyers of assets are also having trouble accessing credit

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Partner Diccon Loxton looks at the recent decision of the Western Australian Supreme Court in the Bell Group Ltd litigation, which is a timely case study of the legal issues involved in work-outs and corporate guarantees

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The new coalition Government of Western Australia has announced that the ban on uranium mining in the State will be lifted. This announcement overturns the policy of the previous State Labor Government and paves the way for development of significant uranium resources in Western Australia. Partner Gerard Woods and Lawyer John Koshy look at the implications of the policy turnaround

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For the first time, the High Court has considered the operation of section 117 of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth), which imposes liability in certain circumstances for contributory infringement of a patent. Senior Associate Rob Silberstein and Law Graduate Nicholas Tobias examine the decision and its likely impact

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On 11 November 2008, the New South Wales Government released a mini-budget announcing a number of changes to taxes and duties in NSW. Partner Adrian Chek and Senior Associate Katrina Parkyn look at the new measures which will affect a wide range of taxpayers

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On 10 November, the Federal Attorney-General released a consultation paper outlining a number of proposed changes to the Electronic Transactions Acts as enacted federally in each state

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A Supreme Court of Queensland decision, handed down on 29 October 2008, highlights the complexity of the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000 (Qld) and how hard it is to comply with it. Partner Tony Davies reports why great care has to be taken in PAMDA transactions, especially on large commercial sales

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We look at three court decisions that provide some judicial guidance on three important patent and design issues

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A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Queensland has held that despite a real estate agent using the wrong version of a PAMDA Form 21a agency appointment, the appointment was still valid. This decision gives some cause for hope that, depending on the particular circumstances, use of a superseded PAMDA Form may not be catastrophic. This could be particularly relevant to sale contracts

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We look at the relevance of public transport and precinct character in the decision to approve the development of residential care facilities and the calculation of retirement village exit fees

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The Victorian Parliament has passed legislation to facilitate and regulate carbon capture and storage activities in onshore Victoria. The passage of the legislation is in advance of the Federal Government's 'offshore' carbon capture and storage Bill, which is currently before the Senate. Partner Anna Collyer, Senior Associate Peter O'Sullivan and Lawyer Damien Hughes report

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China's State Council Information Office recently released its White Paper on climate change. Partner Campbell Davidson and Lawyer Mark Harding report on this major policy statement from the Chinese Government

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Insolvent trading: The latest developments and uncertain future

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The Australian Law Reform Commission has released a report that recommends changes to Australia's privacy laws. Partners Catherine Parr and Peter Jones, Special Counsel Karin Clark and Lawyer Francisca Hoffmann-Axthelm report on the implications for health service providers and other bodies that handle health information

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Late last week the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Water released the long-awaited Commonwealth Treasury modelling on the economic impact on Australia of reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the medium and long term. Partner Grant Anderson discusses the outcomes of that modelling

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We look at employees' rights, and prohibitions, concerning freedom of association provisions; the operation of the Independent Contractors Act; limitations around the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing; and acceptable alternative employment in a transmission of business

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Recently, the Board of Taxation released its discussion paper on the tax arrangements applying to managed investment trusts. The paper acknowledges that while the Australian managed funds industry has developed into one of the largest and most dynamic in the world, their taxation has been based on the laws for the taxation of trusts. Partner Martin Fry and Lawyer Belinda Loke report on the Board of Taxation's discussion paper and the pertinent issues affecting the managed funds industry

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The PRC State Council has recently issued implementing rules for the PRC Labour Contract Law. These rules interpret and clarify a number of provisions of the Labour Contract Law and set out how the law will be implemented in practice. Partner Campbell Davidson and Senior Associates Ross Keene and Katherine Yu outline the key issues raised by the rules