Ambry Legal

12/05/2025

AI is becoming a useful tool in business. But, it also has a dark side.
Please ensure you do proper due diligence and/or seek advice from suitably qualified professionals before taking action on anything that may not be what it appears to be on the surface.

How convincing are they?

08/05/2024

Email and SMS scams are on the rise. Especially around this time of the year when people are getting themselves organised for tax time. Be wary of any email that is offering you a refund or telling you your payment has failed (eg. Netflix or Apple). For more information on MyGov scams, visit:

https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2023-01/scam-alert-fake-mygov-email-and-sms-scam

07/09/2023

We all use emoji's in our electronic communications these days. They have become their own form of language. However, the meaning behind the image could spell trouble for the user.

Recently emojis have landed some people in legal trouble in courts around the world. So what constitutes crossing the line?

02/08/2023

PRACTICAL STEPS TO REDUCE CYBERSECURITY RISKS FOR BUSINESSES

1. Review current cybersecurity policies and procedures to ascertain any weaknesses.

2. Consider potential cybersecurity risks facing your business, including:
(a) What kind of data is handled by the business
(b) What damages could arise from unauthorised use of, or loss of, that data
(c) How your products and services, supply chain and/or operations could be affected by the unauthorised use of, or loss of, that data.

3. Consider your work practices and procedures, including:
(a) Your IT environment
(b) Your service providers for customer service relationship management
(c) Your software
(d) Your hardware
(e) Your remote working practices
(d) Any outsourced cloud-based service providers

4. Consider your staff, their awareness of cybersecurity, resources available to them and implement regular training events for them, including refresher courses

5. Give particular thought to the level of knowledge and expertise of your management team and senior staff as well as their ability to effectively identify, respond and manage cybersecurity risks that may face your business and whether additional training or resources are required specifically for them

6. Consider the size of your business, resources available, specific risks in your business sector, your customer base, the data you handle and common practices in your sector to ascertain your ideal cybersecurity best practice

7. Assess how regularly management and/or senior staff discuss cybersecurity risks and ensure that regular discussions are held to address any concerns and/or new potential risks are identified

8. Consider involving experts in IT to assist you and your business - in ASIC v RI Advice, at [55] the Court acknowledged that “cyber risk management is a highly technical area of expertise”. An assessment of “adequate” protections for a particular business should involve experts.

The above steps will assist any business in fulfilling its obligations as well as ensure that it is better prepared for the every day cybersecurity threats it faces.

Ambry Legal specialises in taxation, GST and business law.

28/06/2023

Tax time is just around the corner. Make sure you are aware of your obligations!

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.theage.com.au/money/tax/the-tax-traps-that-could-catch-you-out-this-financial-year-20230627-p5djqv.html?fbclid%3DIwAR0sgrPfK63tUSuBNvpFSiUIu1f7tSICGY0YW23sR0Uadgu_K8OxbdkjqRM_aem_AeE3L7HFPFDY-4mNQ9yQszKlxF6TUjeYZr2jYyU75OhiV8zAS1Jm5FDEK9y04zpeCZc&h=AT0z_3HCuQ9m3qp_SUBKQWHJqookoteSpHeMPXCS-Q11yIzjvDwv6nr1gjxTbp0Bn4mcX1wwEwJ3vB2ReOrp7DJY0DJrAVsWudi5ZLOdgvNW63znrmgVHBPH85N9&s=1&mibextid=ncKXMA

Be particularly careful when doing your tax returns, as the ATO has developed some of the most sophisticated data-matching systems in the world.

22/04/2023

Additional tax on high superannuation balance earnings

On 31 March 2023, Treasury released consultation paper that provides details about the Government’s proposal to levy an additional 15% tax on superannuation balances above $3 million. This will bring the marginal tax rate on large superannuation accounts to 30%. The release of the consultation paper follows the Government’s earlier announcement and fact sheet issued on 28 February 2023.
The new marginal tax rate will apply from 1 July 2025 and apply from the 2025–26 financial year onwards. While this top marginal tax rate should effect less than 80,000 people, however:
• the threshold will not be indexed.
• The tax is levied on the value of the superannuation account which means tax will be payable on unrealised capital gains. This will result in a mismatch of taxation liability and cash flow.
• The tax base includes super guarantee contributions, voluntary (after tax) contributions, proceeds of income and disability insurance policies and assets received from a former spouse as part of a divorce settlement.

Note Joint media release with The Hon Stephen Jones MP Assistant Treasurer Minister for Financial Services The Albanese Government is making Australia’s world‑class superannuation system more sustainable and fairer with one modest change that affects less than 0.5 per cent of all Australians. Si...

23/03/2023

Familiarise yourself with the new changes. If you need advice, don’t hesitate to give us a call to see how we can assist you with your business.

10/01/2023

What is “spoofing” and how could it affect you?
“Spoofing is where software is used by scammers to copy the phone number or sender ID of a business.

The ACCC says “these scams are a sophisticated form of phishing and are designed to trick victims into contacting the scammers”.

“As the sender ID is spoofed the communication looks legitimate and people think they are dealing with their bank and will call the telephone contained in the SMS,” a spokesperson said.

“These communications often have a sense of urgency to them, such as money being taken from your account, or a freeze on your account. Scammers use these tactics so people act quickly and not take the time to think – ‘could this be a scam’?

The ACCC says both outgoing and incoming phone numbers can be spoofed.”

The 18-year-old had hoped to use the money on a house deposit or future studies. Now the banks have closed her case and told her there’s nothing they can do.

24/12/2022

Merry Christmas everyone! We wish you all a day full of health and love!

19/12/2022

Changes aimed at shielding page administrators from defamation lawsuits over posts by third parties are set to become law nationally, but not until at least 2024.

Under the proposal, social media page administrators would be able to rely on the defence of “innocent dissemination” to fend off lawsuits over third-party comments, but only if they set up complaints processes and took reasonable steps within seven days of a complaint to delete or prevent access to allegedly defamatory material.

If the administrator opted to leave the material online after a complaint, they would have the option of defending the matter using any other defences available to them, but this would be a costly approach.

08/12/2022