New right to disconnect laws commenced on 26 August 2024 for non-small business employers. Small business employers – which are businesses with fewer than 15 employees – will be subject to the changes one year later from 26 August 2025.  

Amendments to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), contained in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (ASIC Act) were passed in October 2022 to the effect that making a standard form contract which contains unfair terms, or relying on an unfair term is now illegal.  

Building and launching a startup is not for the faint of heart. Founders of startups face significant legal and business challenges. However, there are ways that founders can minimise (and in some cases, eliminate) these challenges.

SAFE is an acronym for simple agreement for future equity. Like the name suggests, a SAFE Note is an equity financing instrument designed to accelerate the seed funding round for startups. It is a short, standard document used by entrepreneurs and investors as an alternative to convertible debt.

Cofounder agreements are perhaps the most underrated document in the startup ecosystem. It is not uncommon for a startup to be reluctant to spend money on lawyers in the early stages. Why spend money on drafting agreements when there isn’t any money coming in yet?

But antagonism between cofounders can be the difference between the failure or success of your startup. According to Noam Wassermann, author of The Founder’s Dilemma, 65% of startups fail due to founder conflict.

That’s where a cofounder agreement comes in.

A shareholders agreement is a document which sets out the rules and processes which apply to the shareholders of a company. It determines the rights and obligations of shareholders, as well as governing the relationship between company directors and shareholders.