Understanding business law / Stephen Graw, David Parker, Keturah Whitford, Christina Do

This tenth edition of Understanding Business Law includes a substantial rewriting of the Chapters on Consumer Protection (Chapters 10 and 11) and Agency (Chapter 15) and of the treatment of vicarious liability in Chapter 24 - although all of the other Chapters have also been updated and revised in varying degrees to reflect changes in the law over the last three years. Those changes have occurred as the result of both new statutes and amendments to existing statutes and new court decisions in all federal, state and territory courts on previously untested or, at least, unsettled points of law. The changes also cover matters such as the introduction of new or revised voluntary Industry Codes of Practice. Features substantially reviewed and updated to consider recent legislation and case law as well as current thinking in relation to changes to the: Australian Consumer Law; Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth); Corporations Act to cover matters as diverse as the introduction of director identification numbers, other measures to counter illegal phoenixing, electronic meetings, communication of documents and signing procedures and a new small business restructuring process; establishment of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth); commencement of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth); amendments to the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth); Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth); Designs Act 2003 (Cth) in 2021 to replace the 'informed user' test with a 'familiar person' test and in 2022 to provide for a grace period before registration similar to that already existing in the Patents Act; Patents Act 1990 (Cth) in 2022 to abolish the registration of new innovation patents and, as a consequence, to phase out all existing innovation patents by 26 August 2029.