Regulatory & Compliance Lawyers
We diligently assist clients in understanding their obligations, providing advice, developing compliance programs and registers and mitigating risks to ensure adherence to regulatory and compliance requirements and fostering a culture of compliance within their organisations. Whether it’s guiding public and private clients through complex regulatory frameworks, conducting thorough compliance audits, or representing clients in regulatory investigations or prosecutions, our firm provides the highest quality advice and assistance to safeguard our clients’ interests and uphold their reputations.
Our expertise
- Providing advice with respect to licensing in the construction industry, including licences required as per the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld) and equivalent regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions.
- Advising on compliance with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and similar state legislation, including in relation to misleading and deceptive conduct claims and unfair contract terms.
- Advising trustees, fund managers, and financial services businesses on regulation and compliance.
- Structuring and managing funds, trusts, and investment vehicles to meet regulatory and commercial requirements.
- Representing clients in dealings with regulatory bodies.
- Providing strategic risk and compliance advice to ensure regulatory resilience and operational efficiency.
- Advising government and government bodies on compliance with relevant policy and legislation, including in relation to procurement, sustainability, conflict of interest, fraud and corruption control, privacy, right to information and governance.
- Undertaking compliance audits and making appropriate recommendations for compliance and/or improvement.
- Developing and maintaining risk and compliance frameworks and registers.
- Providing training in relation to compliance.
Finance Services and Regulatory
We advise trustees, fund managers, and financial services businesses on regulatory, compliance and operational matters, ensuring they meet their obligations while achieving their commercial objectives. We have extensive experience in financial services licensing, structuring, disclosure obligations and regulatory compliance including representing clients in their dealings with regulatory bodies. We also have specialist expertise in advising on the entire life cycle of investment funds from obtaining and advising on issues associated with licensing, fund structuring, disclosure documents, debt finance, acquisitions and exit strategies.
Project Highlights
Various Local Governments and Private Clients – Unfair Contract Terms Review & Update
With the introduction of the new unfair contract terms regime in November 2023, we were engaged by numerous local governments and private sector clients to review and amend their contracts to remove any unfair contract terms whilst preserving their unique risk appetite. We have now completed unfair contract term reviews on over 40 contracts.
Project Management Licensing Requirements – Park Attraction Project
Craig Tanzer and team advised a company in relation project management licencing requirements under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission legislation for the construction of a park attraction. This required detailed consideration of organisation and project structuring and each party’s role in the project to determine the appropriate licensing requirements.
Security of Critical Infrastructure Advice
We advised two separate airport clients in relation to their obligations under federal security of critical infrastructure legislation as it related to their airports (one client owns and operates four separate airports across Queensland, including one of the largest in Australia, the other client manages a large airport in South East Queensland). Our advice considered whether the legislation applied to the specific airports in question having regard to their classification, and whether any legislative obligations had been triggered for the relevant airport.
Supervision Licensing Requirements
We advised two separate private construction entities in relation to builder supervision licensing requirements under the relevant State building regulator for incorporation into cross-jurisdictional template contract suites. Both advices were complex due to the differing licencing requirements in each jurisdiction.
South-east Queensland Sub-Regional Waste Alliance - Material Recovery Facility
We assisted an alliance of three south-east Queensland councils to apply to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for authorisation to explore options for, and procure, an alternative waste solution to service all three councils. This required drafting a comprehensive application outlining the relevant industry, market shares of overlapping services, competitive restraints, public benefit and public detriment. Following the application submission, we were required to correspond with the ACCC, preparing submissions for any clarifications sought. With our assistance, the alliance was granted authorisation and was able to proceed with the project.
