Australia’s privacy landscape shifted dramatically with the introduction of the statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), which took effect on 10 June 2025. Only months later, the District Court of New South Wales (Court) applied this new cause of action for the first time in Kurraba Group Pty Ltd & Anor v Williams [2025] NSWDC 396.
The Supreme Court of Queensland determined that a commercial agreement which had been on foot for nearly 25 years contained an implied right for the principal to terminate the agreement without cause by the giving of reasonable notice.
MAC clauses aren’t a free pass to walk away – In Cosette v Mayne Pharma, the NSW Supreme Court made it clear: only serious, lasting harm counts. A clear signal to draft carefully and act consistently.
Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams continue to pose a significant threat to Australian businesses. With increasingly sophisticated tactics such as voice phishing and deepfake audio, even vigilant organisations with previously adequate cyber-security and payment verification standards are vulnerable to foul-play. Recent high-profile breaches, including the Qantas incident this past winter, highlight the growing prevalence of cyber-hacking, and in turn, a greater risk of loss for well-intentioned businesses caught in BEC scams.
The Federal Court has imposed a $5.8 million penalty on Australian Clinical Labs Limited for serious breaches of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) following a cyberattack that exposed sensitive data of over 223,000 individuals. This ruling sets a historic benchmark as the Privacy Act’s first civil penalty enforcement.
GrilloHiggins Lawyers is proud to announce that it has received the following awards by APAC Insider as part of its 2025 Legal Awards
A significant change was recently introduced into Australian privacy law as part of the federal government’s broad privacy reform agenda. A new statutory tort of serious invasions of privacy is now in force.
On 10 June 2025, ASIC announced significant targeted initiatives designed to accelerate IPO timelines as part of a two-year trial. These changes come in response to Australia’s declining public company listings and seek to deliver more IPOs and ultimately support economic growth.