Policy and Regulation

NSW is cracking down on underquoting by real estate agents, passing a new law under which they will face penalties of up to $110,000 for engaging in the misleading practice.

Tax reforms aimed at capital gains and negative gearing sailed through Parliament on Thursday night, with the Treasurer calling the changes a win for "workers, first home buyers and future generations".

More than three decades after the Mabo decision and the introduction of the Native Title Act, the ALRC is calling for an overhaul of the "discriminatory" regime, which it says has failed to compensate native title owners or allow land use decisions to be fairly challenged. 

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry has warned taxpayers could be left footing the bill for offshore oil and gas infrastructure decommissioning, despite existing rules requiring titleholders to pay.

Legislation introduced in Victoria that would require companies to allow employees to work from home two days a week -- and to cover the reasonable costs of the arrangement -- would give employees in the same workforce different rights, according to a legal expert.

Law firm Allens has told a parliamentary committee that a court should weigh in on whether parliament's powers to compel information overrode KPMG's legal privilege, as the auditor resists orders to produce documents.

The Law Council says asserting legal professional privilege is not "inherently scandalous", ahead of a parliamentary hearing on KPMG's sharing ofclient information, at which law firms Allens and Ashurst are expected to stay mum.

The preferred bidder for the Liberty Bell Bay smelter in Tasmania has withdrawn from the process, less than a month after its involvement was announced. 

KPMG has been referred to the national corruption watchdog, with Greens Senator Barbara Pocock calling the federal government's three-month pause on new contracts with the auditor a “slap on the wrist with a stick of limp celery”.

A NSW Supreme Court judge looking to bring class actions back to the state says legislation that would allow common fund orders at an early stage of proceedings was a "no-brainer".