COVID-19

The NSW Supreme Court's new Chief Justice has used his maiden speech to lament how remote hearings and working from home has led to the "insidious depersonalisation" of the legal profession, with half-empty chambers and solicitor's offices losing their soul and personality.

Taking the stand Monday in a defamation dispute with mining billionaire Clive Palmer, WA premier Mark McGowan said Palmer's "hurtful and outrageous" public comments led to death threats against his wife and family.

Telstra has been hit with a class action on behalf of employees who lost their jobs or are in danger of being terminated for failing to comply with a requirement that they be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The ACCC will target businesses seeking to use COVID-related disruptions to global and domestic supply chains as “a veil for illegal conduct” the watchdog's outgoing chair has said in setting out the regulator’s priorities for 2022.

A decision by Qantas to outsource its ground staff was not timed to head off industrial action by the Transport Workers' Union, the Full Federal Court has heard as the airline seeks to overturn a finding that it engaged in adverse action when it terminated around 1,800 employees last year.

An appeals court challenge by a group of small businesses seeking coverage under business interruption insurance policies for losses flowing from COVID-19 restrictions has largely failed.

The organiser of the Big Red Bash outback music festival has appealed a judgment denying it coverage for $3.2 million cancellation of the festival during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic

A class action waiver in the terms and conditions of tickets purchased by US passengers embarking on the fateful Ruby Princess cruise at the height of the first COVID-19 wave was neither unfair nor onerous, an appeals court has heard.

A group of nurses have dropped their lawsuit against Monash Health alleging the hospital provider threatened to take adverse action against them for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating claims by suppliers that government bodies have diverted supplies of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, as the regulator continues its crackdown on reported price gouging amid a test shortage.