The High Court has redefined what counts as a “genuine redundancy” under the Fair Work Act. In Helensburgh Coal v Bartley, the Court confirmed the Fair Work Commission can examine whether an employer could have restructured its workforce, including reducing contractors, to redeploy workers and avoid termination. The case involved 22 coal miners let go during a post-COVID restructure, while external contractors stayed on. The miners argued they could’ve been redeployed into those roles. The High Court agreed the FWC was entitled to consider whether Helensburgh should have adjusted its workforce, including replacing contractors, to keep employees on: Ashurst

The Full Federal Court upheld findings that Carnival breached ACL guarantees and was negligent over the Ruby Princess COVID-19 outbreak, dismissing both Carnival’s cross-appeal on liability and the lead passenger’s appeal on damages. The Court agreed that a “safe, relaxing and pleasurable cruise” was a communicated purpose under s. 61 ACL, and that Carnival breached duties by failing to cancel the voyage despite known COVID risks from earlier outbreaks on sister ships. Passengers were effectively “captives”, so disease transmission was a foreseeable injury. The plaintiff’s damages stayed capped, as her adjustment disorder didn’t meet the 15% CLA threshold for non-economic loss: Barry Nilsson

The Government has a new AI Technical Standard that sets clear rules for how public sector AI should be designed, tested, monitored and retired. It’s built on existing ethics and policy frameworks, with ‘required’ criteria like auditability and ‘recommended’ best practices like starting small and scaling complexity. Launched alongside whole-of-government service ‘Gov AI’, it’s a push for safe, consistent and trusted AI use across agencies: KWM

MinterEllison has launched a dedicated AI advisory team to help clients tackle governance, risk and implementation across emerging tech. Led by partner Jason McQuillen, the team combines legal and consulting firepower, offering strategy-to-execution support: Lawyers Weekly

A former judge and Melbourne academic faces three counts of possessing child abuse material. Justice Alan Boulton has been charged with after an inadvertent incident during a February lecture at Monash University. Police have since allegedly seized devices. Boulton has been permitted to travel overseas while he remains on bail and will face court in November: The Guardian

PwC Australia can now bid for federal government work again, after a 15-month ban tied to its 2023 tax leaks scandal. The Department of Finance says PwC has improved its ethics and governance, but it’ll still face monitoring until 2027. That said, PwC's self-imposed non-compete with Scyne means most federal gigs are still off-limits until 2028: Capital Brief

Corrs Chambers Westgarth has poached Tim Gordon, the corporate advisory boss and apparent heir to Gilbert + Tobin co-founder Danny Gilbert. Gordon, who was made executive partner last year, brings a blue-chip client list including IFM, Bain Capital and Pinnacle. He’ll ditch firm leadership to go all-in on big-ticket M&A at Corrs: AFR

Men out-earn women in 98% of occupations, according to a new Jobs and Skills Australia survey. Just 1 in 5 workers are in gender-balanced roles, and 70% of jobs have stayed segregated for 15 years. Pay gaps are worse in male-dominated trades. But historical male-dominated roles like Barristers have shifted to gender-balanced: Jobs and Skills

A NSW court decision forcing Uber to pay payroll tax on driver payments has sent shockwaves through the GP sector, with fears that it may expose many practices to crippling payroll tax bills. Doctors warn it could gut bulk-billing and threaten practice viability. The AMA is urging states to legislate exemptions, as confusion reigns over contractor vs employee classifications: The Australian

Albo once again shows he’s a man of the employees. He’s thrown his support behind Jacinta Allan’s plan to legislate a 2-day WFH right, brushing off business backlash. While lawyers say the state likely lacks the power to impose such a right on private employers, Albo says the policy reflects public sentiment and echoes Labor’s federal IR reforms: AFR

Santos: is expected to extend exclusive due diligence for ADNOC and Carlyle, who want more time to finalise their $30bn takeover offer. Issues flagged include PNG project costs and decommissioning liabilities in WA, though neither are seen as deal-breakers. Looks like Allens and HSF will be in the DD trenches for a little longer: The Australian

Blackstone: is in exclusive talks to buy stockbroking platform provider Iress in a deal tipped to top $1.9bn, with rival bidder Thoma Bravo also circling. The offer lands as Iress trades at $8.38, down from EQT’s $15.91 bid in 2021. With non-core assets sold and costs cut, Iress may be ready for a private equity reboot: AFR

La Trobe: PE giants line up. Warburg Pincus, KKR, CVC and Bain have all lobbed bids for La Trobe Financial, with offers said to top $2.5bn. Brookfield wants a full sale but is keeping an IPO in its back pocket. The big call for bidders? Whether to price La Trobe like a high-multiple asset manager or a lower-multiple non-bank lender: AFR

The federal gov is buying a $50m stake in Liontown Resources as part of a $266m capital raise, marking a rare equity play to shore up a Rinehart-backed lithium miner. The move, via the National Reconstruction Fund, aims to keep Liontown’s WA project afloat as lithium prices sag. Notably, Gina’s sitting this one out, diluting her 18% stake in the process: AFR

Rio Tinto says the Pilbara is the priciest place on earth to build a mine, blaming falling productivity, labour costs and delays for blowing out budgets. Chief technical officer Mark Davies says even China’s helping Rio build faster and cheaper. He’s urging Canberra to lift its game, or risk losing out on global capital: The Australian

ANZ staff are bracing for as many as 2000 job cuts as new CEO Nuno Matos chases lower costs and sharper execution. He’s already replaced top execs and is targeting “duplicated” roles, with insiders tipping more jobs heading offshore. Investors expect a $500m cost-out plan by October: The Australian

Jim Chalmers is winding back red tape for smaller banks to help them take on the Big Four. The government will scrap automatic breach reports to ASIC, simplify compliance rules, and make it easier to issue covered bonds. It’s also consulting on a lighter APRA regime for ‘very small banks’, though it’s rejected calls for a publicly backed RMBS scheme: AFR

Companies like Amazon and Microsoft are paying double the going rate for industrial land to secure future data centre sites in Sydney and Melbourne. That demand is pricing out traditional industrial players and pushing them to fringe areas. With more than $25bn in AI infrastructure spend committed locally, developers warn competition for power-connected land is set to tighten even further: AFR

Public servants are cashing in big time. A Finance Department review found public servants were timing bookings to cash in on Qantas’ double status credit offers, skewing travel spend heavily towards the airline. Airlines have now been told not to apply the perks to official travel, but MPs and staffers remain exempt. Meanwhile, Virgin’s share of government flights has plunged to just 9%: AFR

Richard White sure does love the spotlight. This time, he’s been accused of turning a blind eye to a “cover-up” to hide serious technical flaws in his anti-money laundering firm Kyckr from a potential buyer. The ex-CTO says she was sacked for refusing to downplay cybersecurity risks. White’s already facing wrongful dismissal claims and governance blowback: AFR

Atlassian just added $1.5bn to revenue and slashed its loss, but shares still fell 7.7% after co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes declared AI a “massive tailwind” while downplaying market fears. Internally, 150 roles were cut, President Anu Bharadwaj resigned, and its AI assistant Rovo is now free to boost usage. Despite the noise, Cannon-Brookes insists he’s “not going anywhere.” The Australian