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Aussie music lovers have suffered more devastating news after BluesFest festival director, Peter Noble, announced that the legacy of BluesFest will end after its 2025 event. After 35 years of live music the festival has decided to call it quits, with many not surprised by another cancelled festival amongst the dire state of Australia’s music festival scene. A common theme we can see amongst all the cancellations is the lack of explanation for the failure of festivals, leaving Aussie music lovers and artists frustrated and disappoint...

Written by Robert Toth Recent Regulatory DevelopmentsThe childcare industry is a dynamic sector undergoing constant change and review.Three key developments over the past 12 months have been: The Fair Work Commission approving the multi-employer bargaining process for members of the relevant unions and service providers who are members of the Australian Child Care Alliance (ACA) to enter into an enterprise agreement. The Early Years Strategy announced by the federal government which sets out the government’s vision for the future o...

Written by Robert Toth What this decision means not only for auto dealers, but for Franchisors generally. Almost all Mercedes Benz dealers in Australia launched an appeal against a Federal Court judgement in August 2023 which dismissed a class action claim against Mercedes-Benz Germany. The case ran for approximately 7 weeks in court in 2022 and Justice Beach took 9 months to deliver his judgement dismissing the dealers’ claims against Mercedes-Benz. The Court found that Mercedes Benz as a franchisor had the legal right to change ...

Written by Robert Toth, featured in the Business Franchise Magazine https://www.businessfranchiseaustralia.com.au/ Do you remember that great song “Takin’ Care of Business” written by the Canadian rock group Bachman -Turner Overdrive (BTO) for their 1973 album? Maybe this is showing my age! The song was about a recording technician who would take the 8:15 a.m. train to work, inspiring the lyrics “take the 8:15 into the city”. How life and taking care of business has changed since 1973! As much as we all ...

Written by Robert Toth and Randima Perera Franchisors should be aware of this recent case where a Franchisor was fined a sum of $1.44 million by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) for underpayments by their franchisees to their employees. A recent case by the Federal Court – Fair Work Ombudsman v 85 Degrees Coffee Australia Pty Ltd [2024] FCA found the franchisor liable for their franchisees’ failure to pay its employees. The FWO case was that nine employees of eight 85 Degrees franchisees in Sydney in 2019 were underpaid a total...