Thomson Geer

Thomson Geer has advised Australian digital safety and student wellbeing solutions provider Qoria Ltd on its acquisition of data analytics innovator OctopusBI and a A$30 million capital raising. The team was led by Partner Hedley Roost, supported by Senior Associate Lawrence Ward. https://lnkd.in/gAQumhRD

Our Chief Executive Partner Adrian Tembel gave the keynote speech at the South Australian Industry Leaders Fund 2024 Grant Awards recently in his capacity as Chairman of the SA Productivity Commission. In his speech he emphasised the importance of leadership to success in business and the opportunity it presents to improve economic outcomes and benefit society more broadly. The Industry Leaders Fund supports South Australian business leaders to pursue world-class education at prestigious institutions such as Harvard Business School, University of Oxford, Said Business School and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. You can read Adrian's speech here. https://lnkd.in/gxRavefd Picture: Simon Stanbury.

Thomson Geer is pleased to welcome new Workplace law Partner Adrian Wong and his team - Katherine Southwell, Tara Malishev and Hailey Summers - to Thomson Geer, expanding the firm's capability and adding depth to our national Employment law offering. https://lnkd.in/gcsxyysj

Thomson Geer is pleased to congratulate Bellberry, a South Australian not-for-profit company that provides scientific and ethical review services for clinical research projects (animal and human), on being named the South Australian winner of the Championing Health category for the 2025 Telstra Best of Business Awards.   Partner Fraser Bell is the founding Chair of Bellberry, which this year is celebrating 20 years servicing Australia's research community and is a valued client of Thomson Geer.  Pictured: Bellberry CEO Kylie Sproston FTSE GAICD and Fraser Bell. https://lnkd.in/gt5u-G3y

Congratulations to Associate Jessie Nygh and Legal Secretary Meg Farrell after being named finalists in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards 2024. Jessie is a finalist in the Rising Star of the Year - Big Law category and Meg is a finalist in the Legal Support Professional of the Year category. Good luck to both.

On 19 September 2024, Federal Parliament amended the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) to insert a modified ‘equal access’ cost protection provision for federal unlawful discrimination court proceedings. This change is designed to remove the costs deterrent that applicants experience when bringing a claim alleging unlawful discrimination (including sexual harassment) in the workplace. Employers are already required to take positive steps to make their workplaces free from sexual harassment and other forms of unlawful discrimination. The new amendments provide yet another reason to focus on this issue, as they may lead to more claims being commenced by individuals who are exposed to unlawful behaviour. Partner Jacquie Seemann and Senior Associate Jessica Berghofer (nee Rose) discusses the implications of this change. https://lnkd.in/gcG8Jvqp

Each state has unique licencing regimes for building construction workers. Some states, but not all, provide that a builder has no entitlement to be paid unless it is licensed. In Allied Grain Systems P/L v Inheritance Capital Asset Management P/L [2023], Thomson Geer successfully acted for Allied Grain Systems, clarifying what is required to establish inadvertence for the purposes of obtaining an exception to licensing requirements under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (SA). Thomson Geer Partner, Shannon Schwarz discusses the key takeaways. https://lnkd.in/g9MzYYGM

Congratulations to Liebherr-Australia and Fortescue on their agreement to supply and introduce battery-powered mining machinery to create a zero-emission mining operation. Partner Jeremy Thom and Lawyer Sam Harlick advised Liebherr-Australia on all aspects of the development and supply agreements, which included joint development of technology, licensing and automation.

Thank you to the MLRC for the opportunity to present on an incredible panel discussing the Australian perspective of comparative copyright issues and AI, alongside Simone Procas from the New York Times, Jens van den Brink, Matthew Dando and Elizabeth McNamara. Today’s conference follows an amazing reception at the Old Bailey last night, pictured with this year’s contingent of 20 Australian media lawyers Media Law Resource Center. 📸 thanks to Gina McWilliams Susannah Moran Rebecca Dunn and Julia Bradley - Thomson Geer

After consultation, and several years of inquiries, reviews and reports, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (Cth) was introduced to Parliament on 12 September 2024. Once passed, the Bill will build on the 2022 Privacy Act reforms, and further heighten the risk profile for non-compliance with the Privacy Act.  Thomson Geer Partners, Bronwyn Furse and Marlia Saunders highlight some of the elements of most interest. https://lnkd.in/g79_REnf