Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors

The firm: Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA) is an award-winning legal firm specialising in workplace relations, employment, industrial relations, workplace investigations and work health and safety.

ABLA continues to be at the forefront of major workplace and employment policy cases in Australia that create significant implications to businesses nationwide.

As a legal firm servicing businesses only, ABLA specialises in employment and industrial law from an employer’s viewpoint, giving clients an important edge

ABLA can simplify dealings with employees, from contractors to directors, offering practical legal advice and solutions designed to keep your business compliant and productive at all times.

ABLA is respected and recognised as providing expert legal advice, which has been cemented in the market with the following awards:

• Workplace and Employment Team of the Year Excellence Award - Australian Law Awards 2022
• Workplace and Employment Team of the Year – Australian Law Awards 2021
• 5 Star Employment Law Firm 2021 – HRD Australia
• Employment Law Specialist Firm of Year – Australasian Law Awards 2021

ABLA’s employment practice has been involved in a number of leading test cases in recent years, including acting for the lead employer party in the Annual Leave Test Case , the Part-time/Casual Employment Test Case, the prominent Penalty Rates Test case  and the Family Friendly and Domestic Violence Test case.

More recently, ABLA acted for ACCI in negotiating new ‘COVID-19 Schedules’ to apply in several modern awards.   ABLA additionally led the employer response to union claims for paid pandemic leave and allowances and continues to work with employer associations to help businesses manage workforces during the shifting pandemic situation.

Our mantra is ‘experts make things simple’, and we live by it every day. We pride ourselves on giving plain-spoken practical advice. ’Legalese’ is not our thing. Simplifying complexity, expressing it clearly and providing clear guidance to clients is the ultimate mark of true expertise. Making our clients’ lives easier is at the heart of our service ethos.

ABLA’s client base is varied, extending from overseas multinational companies, to leading ASX Top 100 companies, larger sized enterprises with 500+ employees and then small and medium sized enterprises. ABLA represents a number of industry bodies, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (which is Australia’s peak council of industry associations).

Our dedicated account management approach provides access to a team of lawyers that collaborate and co-operate across the firm and ensures that clients are provided with multiple points of contact on each matter to ensure the most prompt and efficient service.