5 Laws Every Entrepreneur Should Know About

As an enthusiastic entrepreneur, you should thoroughly understand and comply with the rules and regulations within which your business will operate. Check this list of basic legal requirements, set and promulgated by Australian laws that your new business should abide by:

1. Business Registration: You need to mandatorily register your business with the government authorities. You will additionally have to register for the taxes, licenses and permits that are applicable to the industry you are operating in. Check out the government website for registration procedures and information about taxes, licenses permit, and intellectual property. The Australian Business and Licence Information Service (ABLIS) website has a list of all licence(s), permit(s), and registration(s) necessary to commence business operations.  It is mandatory to register for the following: 

• Australian Business Number (ABN)
• Goods and Services Tax (GST)
• Tax File Number (TFN),
• Pay As You Go (PAYG) Withholding Tax

Also, remember to apply for a trademark if you want a unique business name which nobody else can use.

2. Business Structure – It is important to first determine which structure will suit your venture the best and then decide whether you will register as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a trust, or a company. Each business structure comes with specific taxation, health and safety obligations, and regulatory requirements. It is best to engage the services of trusted legal firms like Prime Lawyers, for advice on the best suited business structure for your needs.

3. Fair Trading Laws – To make your business a valid legal entity you must abide by the Fair Trading Laws. These laws ensure that your business adheres to the fair-trading regulations, maintains competitiveness and informs and protects your customer. To be sure that you are complying with the fair trading regulations you must consider the following:

• Fair trading laws
• Australian Consumer Law and your business
• Competition and Consumer Act
• Australian business standards
• Codes of Conduct

If you are in a business of selling products and services, you must understand and follow:

• Australia’s trade measurement laws
• displaying prices
• product labelling
• warranties and refunds

4. Privacy Laws – If your business entails storing and collection of customers’ personal information, you must comply with privacy laws. These strict guidelines provide information on business owners’ obligation in use, management, and processing of personal information. Check out on how to handle and protect customer data. The principles are enumerated in the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OIAC) website.

5. Employment Laws: As a business owner, it is likely that you will employ people. You will have legal obligations towards your employees so you may wish to take legal advice, for instance, when drawing up employee contracts. You can also see https://www.dhillonlaw.com/employment-discrimination-lawyer/ for some useful information with regards to litigation, employee rights, harassment, and more. Some of your legal obligations as an employer will include:

• Fair wages
• complying with work health and safety (WHS) regulations and codes of practice
• providing workers’ compensation insurance for each employee
• not acting in a way that may seriously damage an employee’s reputation or cause mental distress or humiliation, including particular considerations that may or may not apply to the business.

Setting upa new business is not easy. Counseling with the best in class legal experts, to form a proactive legal groundwork, is the best way to set your business on a continuous, long term and hassle-free successful path.