Technology, Media & Communications

We have decades of experience in advising advertising agencies and marketing consultancies of all sizes, including Australia’s largest advertising and communications group Clemenger BBDO, on every aspect of their business.

We advise on client agreements, confidentiality, competitions and trade promotion lotteries, competition law, employment issues, intellectual property including copyright and trademarks, privacy and data protection, and compliance with every law and regulation applicable to the communication of advertisements to the public in Australia including the advertising codes administered by Ad Standards, the Australian Consumer Law, and classification by Free TV Australia.

Our aim is to assist our clients to achieve the creative objectives of an advertising or promotional campaign while full complying with Australian legal and regulatory requirements, and we have particular experience in advising on the adaptation of global advertising campaigns to comply with local laws, regulations and codes.

For a comprehensive overview of Australia's advertising and marketing laws, regulations and current issues affecting the industry, see our Q&A in The Legal 500: Advertising & Marketing guide for Australia. 

Broadcasting and content delivery (across films, free-to-air television, subscription television and all types of online content) is heavily regulated in Australia with, to date, limited regulatory change to reflect changing business models and consumer behaviour. 

We have expertise in working with the two regulators, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). We have successfully handled interactions with these regulators on behalf of our clients, including in obtaining approvals and consents required for the operation of their businesses. We are also able to work with you to resolve regulatory disputes in a measured and appropriate way. 

In addition to our regulatory expertise and experience in advising on compliance with relevant laws, regulations and codes, Holding Redlich has extensive transactional experience, including in advising on structuring and negotiating M&A transactions and strategic alliances and content arrangements.

Anticipated changes to Australia’s media control and ownership laws, as contained in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), may bring increased M&A activity in this area. We can assist you in structuring transactions and navigating any required competition law issues and approvals, including with respect to the soon to be updated ACCC Media Merger Guidelines.

Although we are able to assist in minimising the likelihood of litigation, we have also successfully acted for our clients in this area in legal proceedings at all levels of the Australian court systems.

We also provide expert advice to publishers, advertising agencies and advertisers on the issues relevant to the communication of content to the public, including consumer law, copyright, defamation and the advertising industry codes. Our clients include some of Australia’s largest and most successful advertising agencies and marketing consultancies and our services for them include providing training for their staff and establishing compliance programs.

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is the cornerstone of Australia’s consumer protection regulation, including in the areas of advertising and marketing law. The ACL also has extensive application to general commercial dealings and transactions. The Telecommunications Act also imposes consumer protection obligations on telecommunications retail service providers, including through the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code, which is in place under Part 6 of that Act.

Holding Redlich regularly advises on consumer protection laws, including in establishing compliance regimes and providing structuring and contractual advice. We have in-depth experience in handling consumer law disputes, navigating the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act and in dealing with the primary Australian consumer law regulator, the ACCC.

We have a depth of experience in the areas of copyright, trade marks, designs, domain names and confidential information. We regularly assist clients in conducting IP audits. We are experienced in putting in place contractual arrangements, including trademark and other licensing agreements, as well as in the enforcement and protection of intellectual property rights, including the conduct of litigation to obtain necessary remedies for our clients.

Malicious cyber activity is estimated to cost Australian businesses over $1 billion per annum. The threats from this type of activity, including distributed denial of service attacks, phishing, data theft and ransomware, are likely to increase over time. We are able to assist you in putting in place a cybersecurity strategy to ensure that you are able to limit the risk of adverse consequences arising from such activity. 

Read our chapter in the latest Global Data Review Insight Handbook to learn more about cybersecurity laws in Australia and best practices for responding to breaches.

The effective collection, protection and use of data, particularly personal information, is critical in the communications sector. Australia has a complex regulatory regime in this area, which continues to change. Regulation is contained not only in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), but also in the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth), as well as other legislation, regulations and codes.

Holding Redlich has extensive experience enabling it to assist clients in putting in place compliance processes and systems to collect, protect and use personal data in compliance with these laws and to mitigate the broader risks in this area. We are able to undertake audits to ensure that your systems comply with all relevant regulations and best practice.

We can assist you to implement strategies to minimise adverse outcomes if things do go wrong, including to manage reputational issues and to help you navigate regulatory requirements, including the new mandatory data breach notification scheme to be implemented under the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth).

We will proactively work with you in dealing with relevant regulators, including the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Defamation in Australia is governed by substantially uniform legislation in each State and Territory as well as the common law. Holding Redlich is experienced in advising publishers and broadcasters on defamation issues and in acting for plaintiffs and defendants in defamation proceedings.

Our IT clients include vendors and purchasers across a broad range of industries, e-tailers, Government departments and agencies and technology users of all types and sizes. 

We are experts in drafting and advising on agreements for IT services (including cloud-based services) and for the licensing, maintenance and support of software, including the provision of online applications and hosting services. Our lawyers apply their extensive legal and industry knowledge to ensure that contractual arrangements and structures protect our clients and achieve their desired commercial outcomes. Our transaction experience includes large and complex system implementation and integration structuring arrangements. 

We also provide strategic advice to clients regarding IT and project-related disputes and we are experienced in resolving disputes as efficiently as possible through negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation.

Our list of production credits on major local and international film and television projects is extensive and impressive. We have acted for and advised a significant proportion of Australia’s screen producers, broadcasters and government agencies, including Screen Australia, Screen NSW, Film Victoria, Screen Queensland, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Film Television and Radio School and the National Film and Sound Archive.

Please click here to view our brochure on Australian Screen Production Incentives and Official International Co-Productions.

Telecommunications infrastructure encompasses not only physical networks but – for mobile and wireless networks - spectrum, a key enabler of communications services. We can help you navigate the complex, and changing, regulatory regime for operation and access to networks and licensing of spectrum.

We can assist you to obtain any necessary licences required for your business and to comply, in the delivery of retail telecommunications services, with the requirements of the Telecommunications Act and the numerous codes and regulations under that legislation.

Our experts are able to structure and negotiate relevant contractual arrangements, including for peering, data and call centres and colocation agreements.