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

Strata Plan 92183 v Samdora Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 406 | 'Substantive Control' over Works & s37 of the DB&P Act

In this case, the plain­tiff (Stra­ta Plan 92183) brought pro­ceed­ings alleg­ing defec­tive res­i­den­tial build­ing work in rela­tion to 9 town hous­es…

Dis­clo­sure: When is enough enough?

Dis­clo­sure, the fam­i­ly law equiv­a­lent of dis­cov­ery in oth­er kinds of civ­il pro­ceed­ings, is a foun­da­tion­al part of fam­i­ly law matters. The Fed­er­al…

When Judges return to prac­tice: a clos­er look at the deci­sion in Tan­it & Tanit

In the Fed­er­al Cir­cuit and Fam­i­ly Court of Aus­tralia, being a Fed­er­al Court, the com­pul­so­ry retire­ment age of Judges is 70 years…

In the News

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 18 June 2026 to dis­cuss devel­op­ments in the pro­ceed­ings brought by Jack­ie O’ Hen­der­son against ARN (from 7:25 to 22:00)

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 18 June 2026 to dis­cuss devel­op­ments in the pro­ceed­ings brought…

Michael Byrnes appeared on 7 News on 18 June 2026 to dis­cuss devel­op­ments in the legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Jack­ie O’ Hen­der­son against ARN

Michael Byrnes appeared on 7 News on 18 June 2026 to dis­cuss devel­op­ments in the legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Jack­ie ​‘O’…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, Kyle Sandi­lands to get $12m in set­tle­ment with ARN after court stoush”, pub­lished in The Aus­tralian on 17 June 2026

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Kyle Sandi­lands to get $12m in set­tle­ment with ARN after court stoush”, pub­lished…