Technology Law and Digital Law

Data centres have become critical infrastructure assets in Australia's digital economy, attracting significant investment while facing mounting regulatory scrutiny over energy demands and infrastructure costs. As these facilities expand to meet AI-driven computing needs, they present complex insurance challenges spanning climate exposure, business interruption risk, and cyber vulnerabilities that require careful risk management strategies.

Welcome to Cross Examining Cyber, a podcast brought to you by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. In this podcast, we look to speak to individuals across the industry who are at the coalface of our cyber incident response.

After our brief hiatus, we are back with our Cross-Examining Cyber Director Series. In this series, we sit down with some of Australia's leading directors to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing boards in an increasingly complex cyber landscape.

Australia's payment services landscape is undergoing a fundamental regulatory transformation with the introduction of new legislation that shifts focus from specific technologies to the functions and activities performed by payment service providers. The Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2026 will replace the existing non-cash payment facility framework with a comprehensive licensing regime that distinguishes between payment products and payment services, potentially capturing previously unregulated payment

The Australian Government has unveiled its Financial Innovation Strategy, introducing a new Financial Innovation Committee and overhauling the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox framework to better support emerging businesses testing innovative financial products. The strategy encompasses reforms across consumer data rights, digital assets, tokenised infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks designed to position Australia as a leader in financial innovation.

Cryptocurrency held by companies in liquidation is increasingly accessible to insolvency practitioners through blockchain analysis, regulatory frameworks, and legal powers. This article examines how liquidators identify, secure, and recover digital assets, dispelling the myth that crypto remains beyond the reach of traditional insolvency processes.

The Administrative Review Tribunal's decision on Bunnings' use of Facial Recognition Technology offers critical insights for Victorian government agencies collecting sensitive information through new technologies. This analysis examines how privacy governance failures, inadequate notification practices, and insufficient transparency led to regulatory breaches, and explores what public sector organisations must do to strengthen their compliance frameworks when implementing surveillance systems or collecting

From 20 October 2026, a new Fair Work Commission (FWC) Guidance Note will address the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in proceedings. It comes as a self-represented litigant credits an ‘AI legal team’ with helping him secure a landmark FWC win.

The Australian Government has released a consultation paper proposing national mandatory minimum standards for data centres (Consultation Paper), as part of its broader AI standards initiative.

A new enterprise agreement between Private Media & the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, approved by the FWC restricts the use of AI in editorial work.

This draft legislation is ambitious in scope and represents Australia's answer to comprehensive crypto-asset reforms.

OAIC's recommendations on managing records of messaging apps provide useful lessons and practical solutions.