Stronger role for ombudsman is the key to protecting bank customers

Apr 21, 2016 06:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

The federal government responded to calls for a banking royal commission with a raft of changes to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) but for consumers, who bore the brunt of the recent financial...

Panama Papers Series

Should tax collection be privatised?

Apr 20, 2016 06:08 am UTC| Insights & Views Business Law

The release of the Panama papers is yet to reach its endgame, but there are some clear truths we can take from it. People or businesses who dont pay their taxes whether deliberately or through ignorance undermine state...

Morrison warns banks not to pass on new 'user-pays' impost to finance ASIC reform

Apr 20, 2016 05:55 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

Treasurer Scott Morrison has warned Australian banks not to pass on to customers the $120 million user-pays charge imposed on them to finance a strengthened Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The...

The who and how of pirates threatening the Nollywood film industry

Apr 20, 2016 05:41 am UTC| Insights & Views Entertainment Law

With an average production of 50 movies per week and about $590 million revenue annually, Nigerias film market is booming. Dubbed Nollywood, it has overcome the teething problems of the late 1980s and 1990s to become a...

Not everyone who takes painkillers for fun is an addict; some have just found a different way to cope

Apr 19, 2016 04:52 am UTC| Insights & Views Health Law

The misuse or abuse of pharmaceutical pain medications usually opioids has received increasing media attention recently. The focus of such news items has largely been on people who transition from oral use of medication...

Migrant Crisis Series

The damning case against private providers of housing for asylum seekers

Apr 18, 2016 11:45 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

For four years, the Home Office has held a series of contracts with three private providers G4S, Serco and Clearel to procure and operate housing for asylum seekers in the UK. These contracts, known collectively as...

Data access inquiry casts the net far too wide

Apr 18, 2016 06:17 am UTC| Law Technology

The Australian Productivity Commission has launched a public inquiry into access and use of public and private data. The agenda of the inquiry is ambitious in both its timescale and its scope. So much so that it risks...