News and resources

The Commonwealth Privacy Act has been amended to create a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy (a tort is a non-criminal act of wrongdoing). The amendment postdated the 2024 Victorian County Court case of Waller v Barrett. It remains to be seen how higher courts will treat the case precedent, and more generally what […]

A married couple bought a rural property on the northwest peri-urban fringe of Sydney in 1969. Both held high-profile jobs in fields unrelated to agriculture, so for the whole of the time between the purchase and the death in 2016 of the wife, who outlived her husband, the property had to be run by a manager on a share farming basis.

The claimant was the son of the man who had managed the property until 1974, after which the claimant, then 22, took over, and remained as the manager until the death of the wife.

Under the will of the wife – the sole owner of the property after her husband’s death – the property was left to one of her two daughters; and there was a gift of a little over $200,000 to the claimant.

One of the items on our website – Can your boss force you to work weekends? – continues to attract enquiries, despite being published in 2012. This article is an update. Discussing whether or not employees can be made to work out of hours requires reference to the way in which the “rules” around employment […]

All areas of the law evolve under the stimulus of societal change, and few areas evolve more quickly than that of employment law. The pace of change in the field of employment law can make it hard to keep up with what’s happening, and this is made harder by the complex tapestry of legal sources […]

Jumping castle an attraction at school event Although more than three years have passed since the Tasmanian jumping castle accident, the tragedy is still fresh in our minds. On 16 December 2021 there was an event, the “Big Day In” at Hillcrest Public School in Devonport, on the north coast of Tasmania. The weather was […]

Unforeseen level of interest in legal aspects of photography A dozen years ago, an item was published on our website about the legal aspects of photography, When photos break the law – your rights when taking photos. It attracted an unforeseen level of interest, such that in 2019 a revised and updated version was published, […]

Pay dispute between rail workers and transport authorities The dynamics of industrial relations have much in common with the game of poker. Successful players can conceal their thoughts from opponents and bluff them into misreading the strengths and weaknesses of a hand. Over the past few months, NSW transport authorities, and the transport unions, have […]

In a case decided in 2016 by the United States Supreme Court, a defendant’s criminal sentence hinged on where a comma should be placed in the ambiguous wording of a statute.

A man had pleaded guilty to the offence of possessing child pornography. He had a prior conviction for the sexual abuse of his 53-year-old girlfriend, but no prior convictions for sexual abuse involving a minor.

As he had pleaded guilty, the only issue before the court was the sentence to be applied. The applicable sentencing guidelines suggested a term of imprisonment of between six and a little over eight years.

A case in 2019 examined the question of whether a race club had provided one of its casual employees with a safe system of work.

Because of the big crowd of racegoers, and copious supplies of food and drink (which could be brought in or purchased), more than a hundred 240-litre wheelie bins were placed at various locations around the racecourse.

The bins had soft plastic bin liners placed in them and were positioned in groups at various locations. Some were on paved areas, but others on grass.

On one of these grassed areas (with a moderate but unquantified slope) was a group of six bins. Despite the worker’s emphatic evidence to the contrary, the trial judge accepted that the bins were placed back-to-back, with their handles touching.

About twenty metres away from these bins was a garbage skip, where full bin liners were dumped. It was accepted that the weight of a full bin liner could vary considerably, depending on the mix of food waste and lightweight items, such as empty cardboard cups and drink cans.

Recent changes to labour hire laws are designed to ensure labour hire workers get the same pay as the host company’s regular employees who are doing the same work. Legislation to stop use of labour hire to undercut permanent employees The changes are detailed in one of two pieces of Commonwealth legislation called Closing Loopholes, […]

Recently there has been a lot of publicity about new Commonwealth laws, taking effect toward the end of 2023, aimed at preventing and addressing sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. Recurring themes in this publicity are the stimulus for these laws, the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report (2020); and the phrase […]

In November 2023 changes to the law on unfair contract terms came into force, applying to a significantly expanded category of small business. Small business definition changes to include larger businesses The legal definition of a “small” business rose from one with fewer than 20 employees, or annual turnover up to $3 million, to a […]

Employers found liable for industrial manslaughter could face up to 20 years in jail under tough new negligence laws to come into operation in NSW in 2024. New industrial manslaughter laws following worksite deaths NSW Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis has said she will bring in new industrial manslaughter laws which will significantly increase penalties […]

The recent unanimous High Court ruling declaring Qantas’s actions illegal in sacking nearly 1700 workers and outsourcing their roles is very significant, although possibly not for the reasons most people might think. Outsourcing as a strategy to avoid industrial action The judgment does not mean employers cannot reduce the size of their workforce by outsourcing […]

While Covid lockdowns are a thing of the past, many Australians have subsequently opted to not return to the office. The latest statistics show that on average, city workers spend one third of their work week at home, with many working from home full-time. Companies introduce mandatory office days This leaves offices largely deserted, but […]

While it may be tempting for company directors to somewhat exaggerate their company’s assets and abilities when promoting their firm overseas to garner fresh business investment, it is important to note that directors duties still apply. Dangers of breaching directors duties while abroad A company director might, for instance, tell prospective foreign investors that their […]

What is insider trading? Insider trading occurs when a person or company uses information that is not available to the public to make a profit, or avoid losses, on the stock market. Consider these situations. You work for a mining company that has just struck gold but won’t announce it for a few days.  You […]

The federal government is moving to protect foreign workers and new migrants who are at risk of exploitation by bringing in new laws making it a criminal offence to coerce a person into breaching their visa conditions. New laws to protect foreign workers Employers or agents who coerce migrants or foreign workers into breaching their […]