Government

Increasingly, government at all levels is working more closely with the private sector to combine public and private sector expertise and make the delivery of public services more efficient.

In recent years, major structural changes have occurred including privatisation, corporatisation, regulatory and institutional reform. Often culminating in major legislative change and the opening up of opportunities for the public and private sectors to work together more closely. Examples include private sector participation in transport, water and power infrastructure – right through to car fleets and significant outsourcing arrangements.

The government’s approach has been to privatise certain assets (including by sale or the grant of long term concessions), corporatise certain government agencies and generally look for opportunities to work with the private sector. Government focus has been on improving collaboration between public and private sectors, improving service delivery and developing new ways to achieve better outcomes for the provision of public services – for example, public private partnerships (PPPs).

Commonwealth, state and local

Deacons has proven expertise in advising both private and public sector clients on a full range of regulatory and commercial issues relating to governments, government agencies and corporatised government business enterprises.

Our team has developed a thorough and practical understanding of government decision-making processes, sensitivities, accountability requirements, obstacles and opportunities. A number of our partners have worked inside government and have expert knowledge of the body of law relevant to the government sector or dealing with government.

From federal agencies to state governments to local councils, Deacons handles the full range of legal matters. Our clients range from government departments to public utilities, corporations, contractors, developers, engineers, project managers, and financiers. We also advise private sector clients on dealing with government.

Indepth know-how

Our lawyers have an intimate knowledge of the compliance, probity and accountability requirements which govern all levels of government and their agencies. Backed with the knowledge and experience of competition and micro-economic reform agendas, we have comprehensive legal and commercial skills in statutory interpretation, compliance, contract drafting, negotation and enforcement.

Proven working relationships with key government decision-makers, particularly in the central agencies, ensure our lawyers have a sound understanding of the public sector’s decision-making processes and policy sensitivities.

We also have substantial experience in advising on and negotiating commercial transactions for government trading enterprises in a public sector context.

Our services

Government agencies

• infrastructure and utilities including privatisation and corporatisation, preparation and negotiation of contracts, tendering processes and project management
• the body of law governing government agencies
• advice across the full range of commercial, project and administrative law work

General

• commercial contracts and negotiations
• commercial dispute resolution
• competition and consumer issues
• construction site acquisition and inter-government negotiation
• digital industries and technology
• employment and workplace relations including enterprise agreements, resolving industrial disputes, and OH&S strategies
• environmental audits, licences, prosecutions, due diligence and land use issues
• financing structures and advice
• infrastructure and PPP
• insurance
• intellectual property
• managed investments and superannuation
• procurement policies and tendering procedures
• project delivery structures for joint ventures and strategic alliances
• property conveyancing and leasing
• tax and tax equivalent regimes

• Newsletter: D-brief - June 2008

  In the June edition of D-brief, we cover a range of matters relevant to government. We look at the reasons to participate in contract review processes, the relationship between legitimate benefits and procedural fairness, the interpretation of liquidated damages and consequential loss, legal challenges under the EPBC Act and performance-based contracting.

  24 Jun 08 John Sharkey AM, Jacinta Studdert, Nadia Janis, Rosemary Crowley, Eric Coonan , Edward Campbell, Grace Do, Chrystalla Gallos, Rosa Raco and Gavin Shapiro

• Legal update: You can bet on Section 92!

  Section 92 of the Constitution states “On the imposition of uniform duties of customs, trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free”.

  23 Jun 08 Ashley Tsacalos

• Legal update: “World’s First” Carbon Capture and Storage Legislation

  As part of the Commonwealth Government’s efforts to meet the challenge of climate change, it introduced and released the draft Offshore Petroleum Amendments (Greenhouse Gas Storage) Bill 2008.

  23 Jun 08 Jehann Mendis

• Legal update: Planning Reforms - the next instalment

  In our legal update in April 2008 we reviewed the exposure draft of the legislation. Following a three week period of consultation on the exposure draft, amendments have been made and draft Bills introduced into parliament.

  19 May 08 Felicity Rourke

• Legal update: New .au Domain Name Transfer Policy from 1 June 2008

  In last month’s Legal Update on Upcoming Changes to .au Domain Name Transfer Policy we noted that the Australian domain name administrator (auDA) had approved an implementation plan for a new policy on the transfer on .au domain name licences. auDA has now confirmed that the new policy will take effect on 1 June 2008.

  18 Apr 08 Michael Park

• Legal update: Planning reform draft legislation released

  On 3rd April, 2008 Minister Sarter released an exposure draft of legislation to implement the reforms and amended the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act and related legislation.

  14 Apr 08 Felicity Rourke

• Legal update: Upcoming changes to .au domain name transfer policy

  The Australian domain name administrator (auDA) recently announced that it has approved an implementation plan for a new policy on the transfer of .au domain names licences. (It is the exclusive licence to use the domain name that is transferred, rather than ownership of the domain name itself.) This announcement follows auDA’s earlier acceptance of the recommendation from the 2007 Names Policy Panel that the current policy be relaxed to allow a registrant to transfer its domain names for any reason.

  27 Mar 08 Michael Park , Ka-Chi Cheung

• Legal update: Market volatility - ASX and ASIC respond

  Sensing a growing controversy, the ASX and ASIC have issued a number of media releases in response to market concerns, reminding market participants of laws designed to protect the integrity of markets. This update discusses the ASX and ASIC statements in light of the current apparent market volatility.

  17 Mar 08 Tim Woodforde

• Legal update: Australian Government Employment Bargaining Framework released

  The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations released the Australian GOvernment Employment Bargaining Framework (the Framework) on 29 February 2008. The Framework provides for the negotiation of new collective agreements and has been designed in part to deliver commitments made by the Rudd Government in relation to industrial relations.

  7 Mar 08 Sarah Ralph , Andre Didenkowski

• Newsletter: D-brief - December 2007

  After the first edition of D-brief we received very positive feedback on the publication and the quality of the articles. It is our intention to maintain this high standard and your input will ensure that the content always remains relevant.

  20 Dec 07 Alan Grinsell-Jones, Jacinta Studdert, Christine Small, Michael Tooma, Ashley Tsacalos, Eric Coonan , Robert Chin, Alena Titterton, Stephanie Sinclair, Edward Campbell and Adam Harvey