Policy and Regulation

At the centre of Tuesday night's budget are tax reforms aimed at investment structures, negative gearing, and the capital gains perk that represent the biggest change to the taxation of Australian savings since 1999.

Criminals are increasingly using AI in their money laundering playbook, increasing the scale and sophistication of financial crimes, AUSTRAC has warned.

The Albanese government is set to spend $2 billion over the next four years to fund critical infrastructure to bolster housing supply.

The Albanese government is planning to spend $3.8 billion more on Melbourne's Suburban Rail Loop rapid transit project, one day after it walked away from the completion of the Inland Rail project.

Renewable energy projects are moving away from rigid, long-term tolling agreements towards more flexible financing structures, according to an Ashurst partner, with lenders warming to new mechanisms like virtual tolling agreements. 

The federal government has awarded contracts to 10 new renewable energy projects in Western Australia, which will deliver a combined 1.9 gigawatts of renewable energy and 484 megawatts of battery storage.

Australia has signed a critical minerals agreement with Japan, under which it will invest up to $1.3 billion in critical minerals projects with its Asian ally to help reduce dependence on China.

Under proposed new legislation, digital platforms like Google, Meta and TikTok would face a 2.5 per cent tax on their local revenue if they fail to do commercial deals with news publishers.

The federal government will spend $45 million over the next four years to develop bilateral agreements with states that will put an end to duplicative environmental approvals. 

Owners and head contractors could be caught out for unexpected payments and lose rights they thought they had, as far-reaching changes to Victoria’s security of payment regime take effect today, a construction expert told Lawyerly.