Last modified on December 7th, 2021 at 12:11 am

AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW: INCREASE TO THRESHOLD TEST FROM 1 JULY 2021

With effect from 1 July 2021, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Acquisition as Consumer—Financial Thresholds) Regulations 2020 (Cth) amends the Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010 (Cth) (CCR) by inserting a new regulation 77A to increase the $40,000 threshold to $100,000. This means that (subject to certain other provisions) from that date, a “consumer” for the purposes …

Last modified on December 7th, 2021 at 12:10 am

AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ISSUES WARNINGS FOR AI BIAS IN LOAN ASSESSMENTS

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has urged banks to be careful of biases in artificial intelligence (AI) technology used to assess customer creditworthiness. In its final report, the AHRC’s Commissioner Edward Santow noted that AI systems used in banks are built on historical inaccuracies that have led to discrepancies and discriminations in the past. …

Last modified on December 7th, 2021 at 12:09 am

FACEBOOK REJECTS PUBLISHER’S REQUEST TO NEGOTIATE A LICENSING DEAL

Following Australia’s news publication debacle, Facebook has recently rejected an Australian publisher’s request to negotiate a licensing deal.  The News Media Bargaining Code has imposed obligations on social media platforms and Australian news media to negotiate content-supply deals in order to balance bargaining powers between the parties. Ever since the Codes proposal, digital platforms have …

Last modified on December 7th, 2021 at 12:08 am

AUSTRALIA’S ESAFETY COMMISSIONER GAINS NEW POWER WITH ONLINE SAFETY BILL AMENDMENTS

The Australian House of Representatives recently agreed to the Senate’s amendments and passed the Online Safety Bill 2021. This updated legislation is targeted at mitigating online cyber abuse by forcefully requiring social media platforms to remove harmful online content within 24 hours or risk being fined up to $415,000. This legislation was created following the …