Information for the legal profession on
COVID-19 outbreak
Rights and Responsibilities during a pandemic
In partnership with the Australian Medical Association (AMA) we have produced a fact sheet on the rights and responsibilities under the Biosecurity Act (2015), to assist in wading through the complexities of the current environment. Read more.
Support for Senate Select Committee
The Law Council issued a statement supporting the establishment of a cross party Senate Select Committee, to review and report on the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and looks forward to seeing the Terms of Reference. Read more.
Updates from the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court
The Courts have a dedicated page for all COVID-19 related information for the profession at the following:
Updates from the Federal Court
Read the latest updates from the Federal Court here.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC)
The ACCC has granted interim authorisation for members of the Australian Securitisation Forum (ASF) to work together to assist smaller lenders to maintain liquidity and issue loans to consumers and small businesses during the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.
Treasury
The first round of offers to banks and non-bank lenders to participate in the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme to support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) get access to working capital to help them get through the impact of the coronavirus has been announced.
Further information about the SME Guarantee Scheme can be found on the Treasury website.
A list of participating lenders will be available on the Treasury website once the offers to lenders have been accepted.
Commercial Tenancies
States and territories will introduce a mandatory Code of Conduct (the Code) to implement the principles agreed by National Cabinet on 3 April 2020.
The Code builds on the draft codes submitted by landlord and tenant representative bodies in the commercial property sector.
The purpose of the Code is to impose a set of good faith leasing principles for application to commercial tenancies (including retail, office and industrial) between owners/operators/other landlords and tenants, in circumstances where the tenant is a small-medium sized business (annual turnover of up to $50 million) and is an eligible business for the purpose of the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper programme.
National Cabinet also agreed that there would be a proportionality to rent reductions based on the tenant’s decline in turnover to ensure that the burden is shared between landlords and tenants.
Australian and foreign banks along with other financial institutions operating in Australia are expected by National Cabinet to support landlords and tenants with appropriate flexibility as they work to implement the mandatory Code.
The Rent Relief Policy will include a mutual obligation requirement on the small and medium sized enterprises and not-for-profit tenants to continue to engage their employees through the JobKeeper initiative where eligible, and if applicable, provide rent relief to their subtenants.
For more information on the Mandatory Code, visit https://www.australia.gov.au/
For more information on the JobKeeper Payment, click here.
Coronavirus app and Whatsapp channel
The Australian Government has also released a Coronavirus app and Whatsapp channel. The app is available on both Android and iPhones. To access the Whatsapp channel, you can go to the website.
Generally for more information on Coronavirus and the government’s response, please visit: www.treasury.gov.au/coronavirus or www.australia.gov.au.
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Support
The ATO has set up an Emergency Support Infoline - 1800 806 218.
Jobs Hub website
The Federal Government has launched a site – Jobs Hub – which lists all available jobs on the internet, in a bid to help Australians out of work because of coronavirus. Read more.
