Man­u­fac­tur­ing is key to almost every sup­ply chain and busi­ness, adding val­ue across all sec­tors in Aus­tralia. In a tumul­tuous time for the glob­al econ­o­my, the Aus­tralian man­u­fac­tur­ing sec­tor is fac­ing strong head­winds from over­seas com­pe­ti­tion and domes­tic labour mar­ket constraints.

It’s imper­a­tive that busi­ness­es remain flex­i­ble and adapt to chang­ing indus­try out­looks in order to piv­ot when required and keep growth prospects strong over the com­ing years. We advise a range of clients on legal issues fac­ing the sec­tor includ­ing reg­u­la­to­ry com­pli­ance, cor­po­rate set-up, com­mer­cial con­tracts, sup­ply chain man­age­ment, data pro­tec­tion and intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty, ESG, real estate, prod­uct lia­bil­i­ty, employ­ment and work place safe­ty laws, and dis­pute resolution.

We pro­vide com­pre­hen­sive solu­tions to the legal chal­lenges faced by our clients as they look to expand pro­duc­tion, dri­ve prof­it growth, increase effi­cien­cy, pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and sustainability.

Emerg­ing issues fac­ing the sec­tor include invest­ment in process con­trols, imple­ment­ing cloud-based appli­ca­tions, as well as sup­ply chain, logis­tics and improved cus­tomer ser­vice expe­ri­ence. Many man­u­fac­tur­ers are also turn­ing to emerg­ing tech­nol­o­gy to dri­ve effi­cien­cies and cus­tomer util­i­ty. The fastest-grow­ing areas of adop­tion in the next few years are expect­ed to be next-gen­er­a­tion enter­prise resource plan­ning (ERP) sys­tems, autonomous sys­tems and equip­ment and arti­fi­cial intelligence.

Use­ful links:

The ACCC pro­vides a num­ber of guides and pub­li­ca­tions pro­vid­ing use­ful infor­ma­tion to manufacturers.

No mat­ter how rou­tine or com­plex the busi­ness issues you face, Mer­i­tas’ net­work of law firms is with you every step of the way. Mar­ket-lead­ing firms offer a full range of legal ser­vices, which enable you to do busi­ness any­where. Wise coun­sel and prac­ti­cal solu­tions are just a phone call or e‑mail away. Dis­cov­er the breadth and depth of the prac­tice and indus­try sec­tor capa­bil­i­ties avail­able to you through Meritas.

Publications

Res­i­den­tial Ten­an­cies Act 2010 (NSW) reforms and oblig­a­tions of land­lords — effec­tive from 19 May 2025

Intro­duc­tionThe Res­i­den­tial Ten­an­cies Act 2010 (NSW) (the Act) and the Res­i­den­tial Ten­an­cies Reg­u­la­tion 2019 (NSW) (the Reg­u­la­tions) have under­gone some sig­nif­i­cant…

Fail­ing to Reg­is­ter a PPSR Secu­ri­ty Inter­est on Time – Legal Risks and Options

Intro­duc­tionTime­ly reg­is­tra­tion of secu­ri­ty inter­ests under the Per­son­al Prop­er­ty Secu­ri­ties Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA) is essen­tial for secured cred­i­tors to…

Fed­er­al Bud­get 2025: Lim­i­ta­tion on Non-Com­pete Clauses

As part of the 2025 Fed­er­al Bud­get, the gov­ern­ment has announced a pro­hi­bi­tion on non-com­pete claus­es for employ­ees earn­ing less than…

In the News

Press Release | New Part­ner Appoint­ment — Mark Glynn

With over two decades in the indus­try, Mark is a recog­nised front-end con­struc­tion lawyer spe­cial­ist with­in the build­ing and con­struc­tion indus­try. Mark…

Press Release | New Asso­ciate Appoint­ment — Hugo Mahony

“As we con­tin­ue to expand in line with our strate­gic vision, Hugo’s deep knowl­edge and expe­ri­ence in Com­mer­cial, Cor­po­rate, IP…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, Police and Safe­Work are inves­ti­gat­ing MAFS, but the show keeps win­ning the rat­ings race”, pub­lished on ABC News on 6 April 2025

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Police and Safe­Work are inves­ti­gat­ing MAFS, but the show keeps win­ning the rat­ings…