While you were ringing in the new year, governments were ringing in new laws. Here are three that you should know about.

Australian Consumer Law
On 1 January 2012, new laws came into force regulating consumer product warranties. This is related to the introduction of consumer guarantees under the ACL that came into force last year, replacing the warranties implied into consumer contracts under the old Trade Practices Act.

Product warranties must now include, word for word, the following statement amongst other things:

"Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure."

Personal Property Securities Act
On 30 January 2012, the personal properties securities regime comes into operation. More than 20 Federal and State registers will be consolidated into one single online register, the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

The new regime will also substantively change current law and practice affecting creditors, equipment lessors and retention of title suppliers in particular.

Work Health and Safety Act
On 1 January 2012, regulations under the new Work Health and Safety Act came into force in NSW.

Formerly, employers or principal contractors had the primary responsibility to ensure the safety of workers. Now, the responsibility is on "a person conducting a business or undertaking" (a "PCBU", pronounced "peekaboo") to ensure so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers.

The definition of a PCBU is broad and imposes duties on those who have control or influence over the way work is performed. This includes principal and head contractors, subcontractors, franchisors and franchisees amongst others.

There is also now a positive duty on officers to exercise due diligence to ensure that a PCBU is complying with its obligations. Failure to exercise due diligence may result in personal liability.

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Read more at Mondaq.

Are you confident that your policies are up-to-date with these changes? PolicyPoint - the cost-effective policy education platform - is well placed to review your policy preparedness. Contact us for more information.