The ACCC 2020 Compliance and Enforcement Policy identifies a number of key areas which will be the subject of ACCC scrutiny. These include: retailers’ and manufacturers’ compliance with consumer guarantee laws; competition and consumer issues in the funeral services sector; competition and consumer issues relating to digital platforms; ensuring small businesses receive the protections of the competition and consumer laws, with a focus on the Franchising Code of Conduct; misleading conduct in sale and promotion of food products; competition and consumer issues in the commercial construction sector.
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Businesses should be aware that competition and consumer laws still apply during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the ACCC will be prioritising its focus on the competition and consumer issues of most relevance arising from the impact of COVID-19. The ACCC has established a COVID-19 Taskforce focusing on early intervention to address immediate problems being faced by consumers and to communicate directly with businesses and inform them about their obligations in relation to cancellations, refunds and suspension of services as a result of the pandemic.
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Confidential Information/Trade secrets are the most valuable assets of many organisations and this data is potentially exposed to greater risk of unauthorised access, disclosure or use, with employees working remotely and using video conferencing services. Remote workplaces also give rise to increased security risks associated with privacy breaches. This article offers steps for consideration by agencies and organisations which use video conferencing, to help them manage and minimise the risk of data security breach and to protect their confidential information/trade secrets and ensure compliance with privacy laws.
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Businesses utilising electronic marketing communications that are linked to Australia must ensure their electronic communications comply with the Australian Spam Act 2003 to avoid significant penalties and court action. In this article, Stephens Lawyers & Consultants offers risk management strategies for compliance with the Spam Act and to minimise the risk of infringement.
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The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has published its Notifiable Data Breaches Report for the period 1 January to 30 June 2020. Stephens Lawyers & Consultants’ Privacy Risk Management: Data Protection and Privacy Compliance Information Sheet provides an update and summary of some key findings and statistics in this Report. Whilst there is no single solution for the protection of privacy data, there are steps which organisations can take to minimise the risk and harm of privacy data breaches.
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Recent awards of damages by courts for on-line defamation continue to serve as a warning to all using the internet that care must be taken to ensure that there is a factual basis for what is published. In Rush v Nationwide News Pty Limited (No 7) [2019] the Federal Court rejected the Respondent’s justification defence on the basis of lack of credibility of its principal witness and failure to corroborate the principal witness’ evidence, resulting in actor Geoffrey Rush being awarded almost $2.9 million in damages – including $850,000 for non-economic loss including aggravated damages – a damages award which was upheld on appeal by the Full Federal Court.
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