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

The extend­ed 6 year lim­i­ta­tion peri­od for SSMA sec­tion 106 stra­ta claims is not retrospective

In the recent deci­sion of John Goubran & Asso­ciates Pty Ltd ACN 070 974 819 v The Own­ers – Stra­ta Plan 5715…

Expos­ing the Con­struc­tive Dis­missal Shibboleth

This arti­cle exam­ines the Fair Work Commission’s deci­sion in Bai­ley Richens v BDO Admin­is­tra­tion Pty Ltd [2025] FWC 3699, high­light­ing the…

No Appor­tion­ment for Sec­tion 37 DBP Act Claims even where the alleged con­cur­rent wrong­do­er is not a sub­con­trac­tor of the builder:

Kapi­la v Mon­u­ment Build­ing Group Pty Ltd [2025] NSWSC 1306 con­firms that builders and nom­i­nat­ed super­vi­sors can be held ful­ly liable…

In the News

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…

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 8 May 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est devel­op­ments in the sep­a­rate legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Kyle Sandi­lands and Jack­ie O’ Hen­der­son against AR

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 8 May 2026 to…

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 30 April 2026 to dis­cuss the state of play in the sep­a­rate legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Kyle Sandi­lands and Jack­ie O’ Hen­der­son against ARN.

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 30 April 202…