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

Land­lords Beware: New Tobac­co Laws Could Mean Heavy Fines and Even Gaol Time

How Do New Tobac­co Laws Affect Land­lords in NSW?This year the NSW State Gov­ern­ment is crack­ing down on the sale of…

When is entry into a lot with­out the lot own­er’s con­sent per­mit­ted to car­ry out repair work to com­mon prop­er­ty? When there is an emergency

When is entry into a lot with­out the lot own­er’s con­sent per­mit­ted to car­ry out repair work to com­mon prop­er­ty? When…

A Short Sto­ry about Bullying

In the recent Fair Work Com­mis­sion deci­sion of Appli­ca­tion by Gary Whitham [2026] FWC 3322, Deputy Pres­i­dent Col­man gave short…

In the News

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 1 Octo­ber 2026 to dis­cuss work­place changes at the Nine Net­work and the issue of employ­ers want­i­ng to intro­duce new employ­ment con­tracts (from 23:50 to 55:20)

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 1 Octo­ber 2026 to dis­cuss work­place changes at the Nine Net­work…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn from Stefanovic’s time in court”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 29 Sep­tem­ber 2026

What lessons can HR pro­fes­sion­als learn from Karl Stefanovic’s court case?Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, “‘The tech­nol­o­gy is insid­i­ous’: The dan­ger of smart glass­es enter­ing the work­place”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 24 Sep­tem­ber 2026

Smart Glass­es in the Work­place: Pri­va­cy, Sur­veil­lance and Employ­ment RisksMichael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, “‘The tech­nol­o­gy is insid­i­ous’: The…