A senior BDO partner used his own welcome address at a national staff event to slam Acknowledgement of Country, then flatly refused to give one. Guest panellist Tim Reardon stepped in with his own instead. CEO David Garvey called it “unacceptable”. BDO is now investigating: AFR

⚖️ Disputes: Western Australia's new Oaths, Affidavits and Statutory Declarations Amendment (Electronic Affidavits) Bill 2026 allows affidavits to be made entirely online, without a physical signature or an authorised witness, through the courts' electronic case management system (ECMS). It's not a blanket change — electronic affidavits are only available where permitted by rules made under the Administration Act 1903 or by a court or tribunal's own rules. Makers affirm the contents themselves, with identity verified through an approved identity service. A knowingly false affirmation is deemed testimony for the purposes of perjury and false statement offences under the Criminal Code: WA Parliament

⚖️ Consumer: The Federal Court has found eHarmony breached the Australian Consumer Law in proceedings brought by the ACCC over its pricing and renewal practices. The dating platform misled consumers on multiple fronts - touting "free" dating that didn't actually allow ongoing messaging, hiding automatic renewals at prices up to five times higher in small print, advertising one-month memberships when the real minimum was six, and quoting monthly prices without disclosing a mandatory extra fee. eHarmony also failed to display the minimum total subscription cost as a single figure, a standalone breach. Penalties and consumer redress are still to be decided: ACCC

⚖️ Regulatory: The Australian Government is consulting on a new criminal offence for failing to prevent modern slavery, a big step up from the reporting-only regime under the current Modern Slavery Act. The consultation will shape the offence's scope and defences, and test whether a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) scheme should sit alongside it. A DPA lets a company avoid prosecution by admitting wrongdoing and agreeing to court-approved conditions like fines, compliance overhauls and cooperation, similar to regimes already used overseas. The government also wants views on how victims could pursue civil remedies. Submissions close 25 September 2026: Attorney-General’s Department

Two weeks ago, more than 1400 of you dropped by for coffee. 

We're back for round two. Legora, the collaborative AI workspace for law firms and in-house legal teams, is taking over Toby's Estate at 25 Martin Pl, Sydney CBD, for two more mornings of coffee, matcha on us as always. 

Today from 8:30am to 11am & coming back tomorrow.

Claim your coffee (URL) - We’ll email you a QR code. 

Learn more about Legora here.

Investors are back on fossil fuels. NCIG's $200m coal terminal bond raise got nine times oversubscribed at $1.74bn last week, at a much lower interest rate than expected. Woodside has dropped its scope 3 emissions target and canned $7bn in "new energy" spend. BHP and Rio Tinto have cut decarbonisation budgets from $11.5bn to $2.5bn combined: AFR

ARIA is banning fully AI-generated songs from its charts, effective Friday. Tracks with AI vocals or instrumentals are out too, but "AI-assisted" songs can still chart. It follows backlash over Brisbane DJ Josh Fawaz's suspected AI cover of 'Like a Prayer', which hit #4 on the ARIA singles chart despite a rival producer calling it out: TDA

🦘 Allens and Mallesons have landed roles on Alphabet's record-smashing $5.5bn Kangaroo bond debut, the biggest corporate raise outside banks and governments. Allens acted for the four-bank syndicate, Mallesons for Alphabet: Point Blank

🩻 RadPartners has finally landed Everlight Radiology, agreeing to a $1bn deal after missing out to Livingbridge back in 2021. Morgan Stanley and Allens advised Everlight: AFR

🐾 Coles has reignited speculation it's still chasing Greencross, telling investors it's "focused on accretive M&A in key adjacencies". Talks reportedly collapsed last month over a $4bn-plus price tag amid shareholder jitters: The Australian