The Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Bill 2022 will, for the first time, apply penalties to unfair contract terms and will increase maximum penalties under the CCA and ACL five-fold. In brief On 28 September 2022, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Bill 2022 (“Bill”). If passed, the Bill will: Introduce a civil penalty regime prohibiting the use of and reliance on unfair contract terms (UCTs) in standard…
Author
Helen Joyce
BrowsingHelen Joyce is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group in Melbourne. She joined the Firm in 2010 having spent the prior decade practising as a solicitor in London. Helen is recognised in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers Australia for Competition Law and Litigation.
Helen specialises in regulatory investigations and disputes, including in particular, proceedings under the Competition and Consumer Act, the Australian Consumer Law, the Corporations Act and the National Electricity legislation. She regularly acts in significant civil penalty enforcement and white collar criminal proceedings commenced by the ACCC, AER, ASIC or IBAC. Her clients include regulators, major corporations and high net worth individuals.
Helen also regularly provides strategic advice on issues arising under the CCA and the ACL such as anti-competitive conduct, misleading and deceptive conduct, product liability and consumer guarantees.
In addition to her regulatory work, Helen has significant experience in the litigation aspects of schemes of arrangement, both in the Victorian Supreme Court and the Federal Court and she is regularly engaged by commercial clients in matters involving complex contractual disputes.