Holman Webb Lawyers has announced a strategic alliance with global US firm Diaz Reus, strengthening the firm’s reach into the Latin American market.

With an existing reach in the Australian and European markets, the alliance will increase the capability of both firms in the Asia Pacific region.

Tips

• Take the time to develop an understanding of the cyber threats that could affect your business.
• Work with your clients or board to create a solid cyber-security program that involves the board, management, IT team and employees. A holistic and inclusive approach is required to ensure that proper and functional policies are in place that can and will be complied with.
• Within this ever changing space, continued vigilance and attention to new and current methods, policies, systems and procedures is fundamental if organisations are to minimise the chance of a cyber-attack.

D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc. [2015] HCA 35 7 October 2015

The recent High Court Case of D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc. & Anor [2015] HCA 35 highlights the debate over balancing:

1. the rights of inventors and creators to commercialise and profit from their inventions;  and

2. the interests and needs of the wider society to be able to access biological developments for research and the improvement of public health and welfare.

Those seeking the protection of intellectual property rights argue that the protection of exclusive rights to the intellectual property enables investment which is necessary for the expensive process of taking research to clinical trials, commercialisation and the market.

Those seeking the protection of human rights argue that the granting of monopoly rights restricts further research and also grants access only to those who can afford to pay, to the detriment, for example of poorer nations.

The Commonwealth Department of Social Services published on 29 September 2015 a new Home Care Packages Operational Manual, replacing the Home Care Packages Programme Guidelines 2014.

The Operational Manual is a useful guide for providers to support the delivery and management of the Home Care Packages Programme on a consumer directed care basis.

Click here to read the October Health Law Alert which includes the recent High Court Case of D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc. & Anor [2015] HCA 35. 

Small businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable to unfair terms in standard form contracts.  The Government has got closer to addressing this vulnerability by extending the unfair contract protection to include small business contracts.  But what is a small business? And what types of clauses are void?

Holman Webb would like to congratulate Alison Choy Flannigan, Health, Aged Care & Life Sciences Partner, on receiving the 2015 Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) – NSW Branch President’s Award on Wednesday night.

The Queensland Parliament passed the Amending Bill on 17 September 2015.  The Amending Act will make some significant changes to the Workers Compensation & Rehabilitation Act 2003 (WCRA).

Last week, the New South Wales Supreme Court handed down a decision in the matter of Anderson v Ausgrid [2015] NSWSC 1308 which is likely to be extremely helpful to insurers seeking recovery as a result of fire damage.

On the 6^th July 2015, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released an Information Paper in relation to Outsourcing. It noted that in recent years there has been a significant change in the way that technology is being employed with shared computing services (SCS) being increasingly utilised by a range of business entities.