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Legal essentials for business
You need to understand the laws that apply to your business. Consult a legal expert or business adviser to understand which laws you will need to follow.
Business registrations
You and your business need to comply with tax obligations. These could require you to register for:
- an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- goods and Services Tax (GST)
- a tax file number (TFN)
- pay as you go (PAYG) withholding.
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Use our tool to find the registrations you need.
Work out your business registrations
Fair trading
Fair trading means:
- your business operates fairly and competitively
- you inform and protect your customers.
To make sure your business meets fair trading regulations, you need to consider:
- fair trading laws, including the Competition and Consumer Act 2010
- Australian Consumer Law, including the rules on guarantees and refunds
- product safety rules and standards
- any codes of conduct for your industry.
When you sell products or services, you also need to understand:
- Australia's trade measurement laws
- how to display prices
- how to label products correctly.
Contracts
When you agree to do a job for money or another benefit, you're probably entering a commercial contract. This contract is legally enforceable whether it's a ‘handshake deal’ or written agreement.
Make sure you understand a contract before you sign it.
Privacy laws
If you collect and store customers’ personal information, you must comply with privacy laws.
These laws detail how businesses must handle and protect personal information.
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Find out how to protect your customers' information.
Protect your customers' information
Employment laws
You have legal obligations when you employ people. For example, you must:
- pay your employees correct wages
- abide by work health and safety (WHS) regulations and codes of practice
- ensure you have workers compensation insurance for each employee
- comply with state or territory requirements for working with vulnerable people or children
- not discriminate against an employee based on attributes such as race, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Hiring contractors
Contractors have different workplace rights and protections to employees.
Understand the difference between employees and contractors to make sure you're treating your workers correctly.
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Check your obligations when hiring employees.
Hiring employees
Unfair dismissal
Unfair dismissal is when an employee is dismissed from their job in a harsh, unjust or unreasonable manner. The Fair Work Commission decides cases of unfair dismissal.
Businesses with less than 15 employees should follow the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code if they need to dismiss an employee. This helps protect you against unfair dismissal claims.
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Read more about the code and unfair dismissal.
Fair Work Ombudsman
Anti-bullying laws
Bullying is when a person or group repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards a worker and put the worker's health or safety at risk.
Bullying behaviour includes:
- unfair and excessive criticism
- teasing or practical jokes
- excluding someone from work events
- constantly changing or setting unrealistic work targets
- undervaluing employees' efforts at work.
Workplace bullying can have legal risks for your business.
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Learn more about workplace bullying and harassment.
Fair Work Ombudsman -
Find out more on preventing and responding to workplace bullying.
Safe Work Australia
Sexual harassment
Everyone has the right to a safe workplace that is free from sexual harassment.
The Sex Discrimination Act gives employers a 'positive duty' to eliminate sexual harassment as far as possible. It's not enough to deal with reports of sexual harassment when they occur.
The positive duty applies to some other unlawful behaviours, including discrimination based on sex.
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Find out about your positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act.
Australian Human Rights Commission -
Read more about employee protections from sexual harassment.
Fair Work Ombudsman
Franchising Code of Conduct
The Franchising Code of Conduct helps address problems that can arise in franchising.
You must follow the code if you either:
- buy a franchise
- franchise your business to others.
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Learn more about franchising.
Franchising
Intellectual property
Your business may have intellectual property (IP) it needs to protect. Before applying for an IP right, make sure it hasn't already been registered by someone else.
You can register IP yourself or get advice from legal professionals.
Using someone else's IP without permission is IP infringement, which can lead to legal problems. This includes playing music in your business.
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Find out more about IP rights.
Intellectual property
Environmental protection laws
Federal, state and local governments administer the environmental protection laws in Australia.
As a business owner, you need to understand which laws apply to you.
Marketing regulations
You must comply with rules and regulations when marketing your products or services.
These include rules on:
- advertising
- signage
- direct marketing and spam
- telemarketing
- pricing
- running competitions
- licencing music for advertising or playing music in your business.
Terms and conditions
Your business's terms and conditions set out your and your customers' rights and obligations. They may cover things like:
- payment terms
- warranties and disclaimers
- shipping
- returns
- website security
- privacy
- how disputes will be handled.
You should get legal advice on what to include in your terms and conditions. When prepared correctly, terms and conditions are legally binding.
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Learn more about standard terms and conditions.
Small Business WA
Read next
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Learn about the laws in your industry.
Industry information