In this crossover episode of Inside Employment, Inside IR and Inside Safety, Drew Pearson is joined by Nerida Jessup and Jessica Light to discuss the growing intersection between AI adoption and employer consultation obligations.

The team explores when the introduction of AI and digital technologies may trigger industrial relations and work health and safety consultation requirements, the risks of getting consultation wrong, and the increasing scrutiny from unions and regulators. They also share practical insights on managing workplace change, psychosocial risks and compliance while embracing innovation.

Recorded on 29 July 2026.

In this episode HSF Kramer M&A partners Rebecca Maslen-Stannage and Mia Harrison-Kelf unpack the Star Entertainment decision, one of the most closely watched director duty cases in recent years, and explore what it means for directors and executives navigating transactions.

The discussion covers the standard expected of directors when relying on management information, how to test and challenge information in a deal context, why insight matters more than volume in board packs, how to identify, manage and document conflicts of interest, and the importance of managing urgency in transactions through effective contemporaneous record-keeping.

A practical discussion on how the Star decision shapes corporate governance and director duties in the context of M&A transactions, and what every director, executive and general counsel needs to know to do deals safely.

In this sixth episode of the Employment Espresso Pods mini-series on the Employment Rights Act 2025, Jenny Andrews and Sian McKinley, both Of Counsel, together with Knowledge Counsel Anna Henderson, focus on the changes to fire and rehire law due to come into force in January 2027. These reforms will make it significantly more difficult and expensive to force through changes to core terms of employment, as well as having some other, perhaps unintended, implications for business strategy in relation to restructuring, post-acquisition harmonisation and outsourcing. We discuss the changes and steps employers should take now to prepare.

If you would you like to discuss what this means for your specific business before January 2027, please contact Jenny Andrews, Sian McKinley, Anna Henderson or the wider Employment team.

In this episode of Defining Matters, partners Kam Jamshidi and Matt FitzGerald unpack the key findings from HSF Kramer’s exclusive Private M&A Dealmakers Report 2026, analysing approx. 60 private M&A transactions completed over the past year.

Key topics include:

• The return of billion-dollar deals
• Why bilateral deals are dominating sale processes
• MAC clauses and transaction certainty
• Regulatory trends across FIRB and ACCC approvals
• The rise of lockboxes and alternative pricing structures
• New liquidity pathways for private capital
• Predictions for the year ahead

A practical discussion on the trends, tactics and market dynamics shaping Australia's private M&A landscape.

Request access to our Private M&A report here: Dealmakers: Private M&A Report Australia 2026

As enterprise bargaining becomes increasingly complex, many organisations are rethinking how they prepare for negotiations.

In part 1 of our latest episode of Inside IR, industrial relations partner Rohan Doyle and Melbourne Business School Professor Jennifer Overbeck explore the changing enterprise bargaining landscape, the shifting balance of bargaining power, the role of identity and trust in negotiations, and practical strategies organisations can use to prepare for bargaining more effectively.

Welcome to Cross Examining Cyber, a podcast brought to you by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. In this podcast, we look to speak to individuals across the industry who are at the coalface of our cyber incident response.

In this particular series, we're taking a slightly different slant, we're going out and speaking to our top directors to talk about governance, how to be a good director during a cyber crisis, and what it means to be a director in an everchanging digital world.

In this episode, we are joined by Catherine Brenner and John Mullen, two of our most distinguished Chairs. We talk about good governance, what it takes to be a good chair during a crisis, whether we need deep cyber expertise on the board and first-hand experience in cyber incident response. The discussion was so good, we’ve divided it in two. Here’s Cross Examining Catherine Brenner and John Mullen (Part 1)…

In this episode of On Just Terms, partners Jason Betts and Melissa Gladstone are joined by Professor Vince Morabito, one of Australia's leading empirical researchers on class actions.

Drawing on decades of data, Professor Morabito explores common misconceptions about the class action system, the factors driving filing rates, and the impact of Victoria's group costs order regime.

He also discusses concerns about rising GCO rates, assesses whether access to justice objectives are being achieved, and shares his views on key areas for reform, including competing class actions, class closure mechanisms, and the potential role of a public litigation fund.

In this episode of Defining Matters, partners Kam Jamshidi and Simon Walker unpack one of the most important and frequently negotiated provisions in public M&A transactions: standstills.

Using notable Takeovers Panel decisions, including Diatreme/Metallica and International All Sports, Kam and Simon explore the commercial and legal tensions that arise between bidders seeking flexibility and targets seeking protection.

Key topics include:

• The role and purpose of standstills in public M&A
• How bidders and targets approach key negotiating points
• The importance of due diligence access and information-sharing
• What recent Takeovers Panel decisions mean for dealmakers
• Why parties should not expect the Panel to rewrite a bargain once it has been struck

A great discussion on the negotiation, strategy and risk considerations shaping today's public M&A transactions.