Man­u­fac­tur­ing is key to almost every sup­ply chain and busi­ness, adding val­ue across all sec­tors in Aus­tralia. In a tumul­tuous time for the glob­al econ­o­my, the Aus­tralian man­u­fac­tur­ing sec­tor is fac­ing strong head­winds from over­seas com­pe­ti­tion and domes­tic labour mar­ket constraints.

It’s imper­a­tive that busi­ness­es remain flex­i­ble and adapt to chang­ing indus­try out­looks in order to piv­ot when required and keep growth prospects strong over the com­ing years. We advise a range of clients on legal issues fac­ing the sec­tor includ­ing reg­u­la­to­ry com­pli­ance, cor­po­rate set-up, com­mer­cial con­tracts, sup­ply chain man­age­ment, data pro­tec­tion and intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty, ESG, real estate, prod­uct lia­bil­i­ty, employ­ment and work place safe­ty laws, and dis­pute resolution.

We pro­vide com­pre­hen­sive solu­tions to the legal chal­lenges faced by our clients as they look to expand pro­duc­tion, dri­ve prof­it growth, increase effi­cien­cy, pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and sustainability.

Emerg­ing issues fac­ing the sec­tor include invest­ment in process con­trols, imple­ment­ing cloud-based appli­ca­tions, as well as sup­ply chain, logis­tics and improved cus­tomer ser­vice expe­ri­ence. Many man­u­fac­tur­ers are also turn­ing to emerg­ing tech­nol­o­gy to dri­ve effi­cien­cies and cus­tomer util­i­ty. The fastest-grow­ing areas of adop­tion in the next few years are expect­ed to be next-gen­er­a­tion enter­prise resource plan­ning (ERP) sys­tems, autonomous sys­tems and equip­ment and arti­fi­cial intelligence.

Use­ful links:

The ACCC pro­vides a num­ber of guides and pub­li­ca­tions pro­vid­ing use­ful infor­ma­tion to manufacturers.

No mat­ter how rou­tine or com­plex the busi­ness issues you face, Mer­i­tas’ net­work of law firms is with you every step of the way. Mar­ket-lead­ing firms offer a full range of legal ser­vices, which enable you to do busi­ness any­where. Wise coun­sel and prac­ti­cal solu­tions are just a phone call or e‑mail away. Dis­cov­er the breadth and depth of the prac­tice and indus­try sec­tor capa­bil­i­ties avail­able to you through Meritas.

Publications

SP6534 v Elkhouri; Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tion SP6534 v Per­pet­u­al Cor­po­rate Trust Ltd [2024] NSW­CA 279 (in Eq. Div) (27 Novem­ber 2024)

Back­ground and PartiesMr. Elkhouri (Elkhouri) owned Lot 11, a pent­house apart­ment in an 11 lot res­i­den­tial stra­ta scheme at Point Piper, Syd­ney. The…

A Frus­trat­ed FWC: Look­ing beyond the Plumber’s Crack”

The recent Fair Work Com­mis­sion (FWC) deci­sion in Antho­ny Davitkov v Wool­worths Group Lim­it­ed [2026] FWC 1655 has attract­ed much mirth…

Aus­tralian Anti-Mon­ey Laun­der­ing AML/CTF Tranche 2 laws are coming

Australia’s Anti-Mon­ey Laun­der­ing and Counter-Ter­ror­ism Financ­ing (AML/CTF) Act is designed to stop ille­gal funds from enter­ing the finan­cial sys­tem. It…

In the News

2026 Insol­ven­cy & Financier Drinks | Thank you to our clients and friends

Marc Bad­dams, Michael Hayter, Ger­ald Carides, Nick Dale, and Swaab’s Insol­ven­cy team would like to extend their thanks to our…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, Cus­tomer and con­trac­tor ordered to pay $116,000 for homo­pho­bic harass­ment of man­ag­er”, pub­lished in the Aus­tralian on 18 May 2026

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Cus­tomer and con­trac­tor ordered to pay $116,000 for homo­pho­bic harass­ment of man­ag­er”, pub­lished…

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 12 May 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est court doc­u­ments in the sep­a­rate legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Kyle Sandi­lands and Jack­ie O’ Hen­der­son against ARN

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 12 May 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est court doc­u­ments in the…