Contemporary Australian Corporate Law

The rules, doctrines and policies governing corporations and financial markets are complex and ever-changing in response to global, social and commercial needs. Contemporary Australian Corporate Law is a well-established foundational text that explores these rules and laws in detail, including the history and context in which they are established, how they are developed and how they will continue to evolve in the future. The third edition has been updated to include recent developments in legislation, case law and corporate governance. Discussion of financial markets and financial services has been modified in response to changes to the Corporations Act 2001 including amendments to the continuous disclosure requirements in Chapter 6CA. It considers the recently passed Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Act 2024 which covers climate disclosure obligations. The clear structure and detailed exploration of key concepts encourages students to develop a contextual understanding of corporate law.

List of contents

1. Context, history and regulation; 2. Corporate law theory and debates; 3. The company as a separate legal entity; 4. Formation and types of companies; 5. The internal rules of a company; 6. Corporate contracting; 7. Decision-making, meetings and reporting; 8. Corporate finance; 9. Corporate fundraising; 10. An overview of directors' duties; 11. Duty of care, skill and diligence; 12. Duties of good faith; 13. Conflicts of interest; 14. Members' rights and remedies; 15. Receivership, schemes of arrangement, small business restructuring and voluntary administration; 16. Winding up and liquidation; 17. Financial markets; 18. Financial services; 19. Takeovers.

About the author

Stephen Bottomley has been researching and teaching corporate law for over thirty-five years. He has taught undergraduate courses in corporate law, takeovers and securities markets law, and postgraduate courses in corporate governance and government corporations. He is a distinguished scholar with the following affiliations: Life Member of the Society of Corporate Law Academics (formerly the Corporate Law Teachers Association of Australia and New Zealand) Life Member of the Australasian Law Academics Association; and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. From 2013–2017 he was Dean of the Australian National University College of Law. In 2020 he received the Lifetime Achievement Legal Research Medal in the Australian Legal Research Awards.Kath Hall has been researching and teaching corporate law for nearly twenty years. She has taught undergraduate courses on corporate law, and postgraduate courses on corporate governance, and transnational anti-corruption law. Her research reflects a strong theoretical and practical understanding of the complexities involved in regulating global corporations and transnational corruption. In 2013, she was awarded an Australian National University College of Law Award for Excellence in Teaching and in 2014 a Vice-Chancellors Commendation for Teaching Excellence. In 2012–2014 she was a non-residential Fellow at Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and between 2016–2019 she was a lead researcher on a large empirical project investigating positive organizational responses to whistleblowing. Kath was also the Deputy Director, ANU Transnational Research Institute on Corruption (2016–2019) and member, International Bar Association Anti-Corruption Committee (2012–2016).Peta Spender has been researching and teaching corporate law for many decades and has taught courses in corporate law, financial markets law, takeovers, corporate governance and litigation. She is the co-author of a leading Australian casebook on litigation. Peta was a founding Presidential Member of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal and is currently a Senior Member in the Regulatory List of the Administrative Review Tribunal. She is a Life Member of the Society of Corporate Law Academics and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. Over the years, Peta has served as Acting Dean, Deputy Dean and Head of School of the ANU College of Law at the Australian National University.Beth Nosworthy has been researching and teaching corporate law for over fifteen years. She worked as an Associate in the Supreme Court of South Australia and as a commercial lawyer with an Adelaide firm before returning to study and then commence her career as an academic. Since joining the University of Adelaide, she has taught corporate law and equity at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, and established the Entrepreneur and Venture Advice Clinic within the Clinical Legal Education program, and since 2022 has been the Deputy Dean at the Adelaide Law School. She is a member of the Law Council of Australia, Business Law Section, the Academic Board of the Governance Institute of Australia, and the Executive Committee of the Society of Corporate Law Academics.

Product details

• Authors: Stephen (Australian National University Bottomley, Bottomley Stephen, Hall Kath, Beth Nosworthy, Spender Peta
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2025
• EAN: 9781009448215
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0944821-5
• No. of pages: 814
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > Mercantile and commercial law; LAW / Corporate, Company law, For higher / tertiary / university education, Company, commercial and competition law: general