The Honourable Justice D M Price AM, Chief Judge of the District Court, has issued Criminal Practice Note 20 for Sentence Matters, which commences 1 June 2020. This Practice Note applies to all proceedings committed to the District Court for sentence on or after the commencement date. More here.

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia has launched a new website homepage today to assist parties, practitioners and other court users. While the content of the website has not changed, it now has direct links to the Court’s three main areas of filing: family law, migration law and general federal law. View here.

The Federal Circuit Court would also like feedback from litigants, lawyers and others court users about their experience of court hearings and alternative dispute resolution events that have been conducted electronically. A short survey is available on the Court’s website.

The new Electronic Transactions Amendment (COVID-19 Witnessing of Documents) Regulation 2020 is now in effect and allows for the witnessing of legal documents to be conducted electronically during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Law Society has developed guidance to the profession for the application of the new arrangements, which is available here.

The Fair Work Commission Rules 2013 have been amended through the Fair Work Commission Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Rules 2020. As a result of the amendment, rules that require a statutory declaration to be lodged with the Fair Work Commission will be changed to instead require lodgement of a signed, but not witnessed, declaration. The Commission has made these changes to support compliance with social distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes commence on 1 May 2020.

The object of this Regulation is to provide for public hearings and public meetings of planning bodies to be held by means of an audio link or audio-visual link for six months during the COVID-19 pandemic. The relevant planning bodies are the Independent Planning Commission, Sydney district planning panels, regional planning panels, local planning panels and panels established by the Minister or Planning Secretary under section 2.3 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Read more here.

On 29 March 2020, the Treasurer announced changes to Australia’s foreign investment review framework relating to monetary thresholds and timeframes for reviewing applications. A new Guidance Note ,‘Temporary measures in response to the coronavirus [GN53]’, has been published on the Foreign Investment Review Board website.

The Law Society’s COVID-19 wellbeing portal has a range of resources to help you through the pandemic and beyond, including a new article with tips for staying socially connected when practising physical distancing.

The NSW Government is rolling out free webinars to help small businesses impacted by COVID-19. The webinars are being run by small business advisory program Business Connect and address key subjects such as ‘how to maximise cashflow’ and ‘business disruption-innovation’.

The NSW Government is making an additional 13 new fee-free TAFE NSW online short courses available to anyone wanting to upskill during the COVID-19 pandemic.