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Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
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Australia | Publication | August 31, 2017
There is no good in downplaying the changes to the regulation of safety in Queensland arising from the Best Practice Review undertaken by Tim Lyons (view report here), including the likely forthcoming changes to the WHS legislation by the Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 (the WHS Bill). Refer to the list of key changes below.
So how do you respond to the proposed Queensland Workplace Health Safety and safe building products laws, while the NSW regulator moves in the opposite direction?
Employment and Industrial Relations Minister, the Hon Grace Grace MP stated that the WHS Bill seeks to implement all 58 of the recommendations made following the Best Practice Review: read the 58 recommendations here.
In brief, we consider the key impacts on Queensland organisations will be:
In addition, the Building and Construction Legislation (Non-conforming Building Products – Chain of Responsibility and Other Matters) Act 2017 will require considerable action in the building products supply chain parties: refer to below article for a summary of the changes.
The question is how to assess the impact and respond, particularly at a time when the NSW SafeWork authority is, in some areas, heading in the other direction: refer to the article below about a recent forum we attended with senior SafeWork NSW officials.
We will be holding a seminar at our Sydney and Brisbane offices in October to discuss the changes set out in this legal update in further detail. We will also cover an update on non-conforming building products mentioned below. Invitations for these events will be sent out shortly.
On August 24, 2017, the Queensland Government passed the Building and Construction Legislation (Nonconforming Building Products – Chain of Responsibility and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2017 (Amendments Act), which will introduce a raft of changes to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (QBCC Act).
The substance of the new laws is set out in our earlier blog post when the laws were introduced in May 2017, which you can access here.
The non-conforming building products legislation came into effect on 1 November 2017.
Supply chain participants should be aware that that the provisions in the legislation regarding recall orders can be made for non-conforming building products in existence on the date of commencement, but will also apply to products that have been used on buildings before the commencement of the Act.
The Amendments Act as passed last week was substantially the same as the bill introduced in May, except for amendments to:
Following the Grenfell tower fire in London earlier this year, the Senate committee agreed to prepare an additional interim report on the implications of non-conforming external cladding materials in Australia as a priority, with the report due to be handed down on September 6, 2017. However, this has caused delays in the delivery of the interim report on products containing asbestos, which will now be handed down on October 31, 2017, and the delivery of the final report, which has been pushed back until April 30, 2018.
We can help you prepare for the changes to the laws by examining your systems that deal with building products that pass through your position in the supply chain, to ensure that you comply with the new obligations.
The Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 (the Bill) was introduced by Employment and Industrial Relations Minister, the Hon Grace Grace MP to Parliament in its first reading on August 22, 2017.
The significant changes proposed by the Bill include the following:
The Bill has been referred to the Finance and Administration Committee for consideration. We will continue to update you with its progress and the impact it may have upon your organisation.
We recently attended a legal forum hosted by SafeWork NSW (SafeWork), where Peter Dunphy (Executive Director), Rick Bultitude (Director of Investigations and Emergency Response) and Karen Lockerby (Head of Legal) shared valuable insights into the regulator’s focus areas and priorities for the next six years under its new Work Health and Safety Roadmap 2022.
Key messages from SafeWork included:
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Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
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