COVID-19 | Changes to the For­eign Acqui­si­tions and Takeovers Act 1975 | 31 March 2020

On 29 March 2020, the Hon. Josh Fry­den­berg MP, Trea­sur­er, announced changes to the way for­eign invest­ment is reviewed in Aus­tralia. View the key changes here.

COVID-19 Advo­ca­cy Alert | Loan relief mea­sures for com­mer­cial land­lords | 30 March 2020

Fur­ther to our updates on 26 March 2020 and ear­li­er today, the Prime Min­is­ter announced last night that the Nation­al Cab­i­net agreed to a mora­to­ri­um on evic­tions over the next six months for com­mer­cial and res­i­den­tial ten­an­cies in finan­cial dis­tress who are unable to meet their com­mit­ments due to the impact of coro­n­avirus. Read more

COVID-19 The lat­est on com­mer­cial ten­an­cies | 30 March 2020

Fur­ther to our update on 26 March 2020 regard­ing the COVID-19 Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Emer­gency Mea­sures) Bill 2020 (Bill), on Sun­day 29 March 2020, the Prime Min­is­ter announced that the Nation­al Cab­i­net agrees that short term inter­ven­tion is need­ed for com­mer­cial ten­an­cies. Read more

COVID-19 Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Emer­gency Mea­sures) Act 2020(NSW) – RETAIL LEAS­ES ACT 1994 (NSW) | 26 March 2020

The COVID-19 Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Emer­gency Mea­sures) Bill 2020 (NSW) was passed by both Hous­es of the New South Wales Par­lia­ment on 24 March 2020, which received assent yes­ter­day (Emer­gency Mea­sures Act). Amongst oth­er things, the Emer­gency Mea­sures Act intro­duces a new Part 11 (Response to COVID-19 pan­dem­ic) into the Retail Lease Act 1994 (NSW) (Act). Read more

COVID-19 Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Emer­gency Mea­sures) Bill 2020 | 26 March 2020

The COVID-19 Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Emer­gency Mea­sures) Bill 2020 (Bill) was passed last night and received roy­al assent today. The Bill intro­duces Part 11 into the Retail Leas­es Act 1994 (RLA) (which is a new part). The new Part 11 pro­vides that reg­u­la­tions MAY pro­vide for cer­tain mat­ters for the pur­pose of respond­ing to the pub­lic health emer­gency caused by COVID-19 pan­dem­ic as fol­lows. Read more

COVID-19 Tips for Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions, Stra­ta Com­mit­tees and Stra­ta Man­agers | 23 March 2020

In these unprece­dent­ed times, there is a lot of uncer­tain­ty for busi­ness­es and indi­vid­u­als. This uncer­tain­ty extends to the ongo­ing and sat­is­fac­to­ry func­tion­ing of an own­ers corporation. 

Stra­ta Man­agers and Stra­ta Com­mit­tees should be aware of their ongo­ing oblig­a­tions to ensure that an own­ers cor­po­ra­tion con­tin­ues to func­tion sat­is­fac­to­ri­ly dur­ing the Covid ‑19 dis­rup­tions. Read more

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

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 6 Octo­ber 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est devel­op­ments in the Jack­ie ​‘O’ Hen­der­son v ARN case (from 5:40 to 20:00)

What hap­pened to the Jack­ie O and ARN court case, and why did the Fed­er­al Court hear­ing col­lapse in OctoberMichael Byrnes appeared…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, “ ​‘You can’t force new con­tracts on employ­ees’ ”, pub­lished in TV Black­box on 4 Octo­ber 2026

Can an employ­er force employ­ees to sign a new employ­ment con­tract if they don’t agree to the changes?Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Jack­ie Hen­der­son and ARN’s court show­down post­poned”, pub­lished in Mum­brel­la on 2 Octo­ber 2026

Why was Jack­ie Henderson’s Fed­er­al Court tri­al against ARN Media post­poned, and what issues delayed the Octo­ber 2026 hearing?Michael Byrnes is…

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