A snapshot of the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997
On 6 September 2018 the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2018 was passed by Parliament and included more than 130 reforms which aim to increase protection for renters. The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2018 (RTAA) is due to come into effect progressively and completely, by 1 July 2020 and will amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 […]
ReadmoreRoyal Commission to be established to look at Australia’s aged care sector – what might providers expect?
In a joint statement with the Health Minister Greg Hunt and the Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the Government has made a decision to establish a Royal Commission into the Aged Care Sector. The announcement recognised that there are ‘thousands of extraordinary operators, facilities, care providers, nursing and other […]
ReadmoreVictorian Municipal Councils to facilitate for finance rectification costs of combustible cladding
The Building Amendment (Registration of Building Trades and Other Matters) Bill 2018 introduces reforms to the Victorian Local Government Act 1989 to allow residential owners and owners corporations to access low cost finance to fund the cost of removing combustible cladding. Following the recommendations of the Victorian Cladding Taskforce, these reforms will introduce Cladding Rectification […]
ReadmoreTwo wrongs don’t make a legal right
Equal treatment is a fundamental principle of justice. This is well understood in the abstract, but what it might mean in practice and how it might be enforced is less clear, as is demonstrated by an important recent UK decision[1] that will be monitored closely by Australian lawyers. The case As a result of […]
ReadmorePersonal Property Securities Act – register or regret
State and local governments have large asset portfolios and enter hundreds – if not thousands – of property dealings every year. The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 Cth (the Act) has critical implications for common property transactions. Government property owners: need to be alert to the real risk of losing title to goods if appropriate […]
ReadmoreChanges in the pipeline for data protection in Queensland
2018 has been a big year in data. Spurred on by recent well publicised global data breaches such as the Cambridge Analytica‘s data harvesting of Facebook in the lead up to the 2016 US presidential elections), this year has seen the introduction of ground-breaking new data laws both in Australia and internationally. This article explores […]
ReadmoreIpso Facto Reforms
On 1 July 2018, the Australian Government’s ipso facto reforms (the Reforms) came into effect.[1] Rather than prohibiting the inclusion of ipso facto clauses, the Reforms impose statutory limitations on the enforcement of certain rights found in contracts, agreements or arrangements. It is crucial that government and government agencies understand these Reforms and take them […]
ReadmoreEthics of Public Sector Decision Making
Governments keep getting bigger. The exercise of their powers is more far-reaching than ever before. As powerful as government may be, there is no such thing in Australia as unlimited official power. Governments can only exercise the powers vested in them. Governments exist only to serve the public interest and the courts will hold them […]
ReadmoreFarm Debt Mediation Act 2018 (SA)
3 September 2018 marked the commencement of the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2018 (SA) (Act), to be administered by the South Australian Small Business Commissioner (Commissioner). The Act enshrines in law mandatory farm debt mediation, bringing South Australia into line with its eastern state counterparts – New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The object of […]
ReadmoreProfiles in Privacy | Fiona Anderson, Treasury Wine Estates
In our Profiles in Privacy series, we profile prominent players in privacy and data protection in Australia. Fiona Anderson, Senior Legal Counsel at Treasury Wine Estates, has nearly 18 years experience as a commercial lawyer. She has been in the legal team at Treasury Wine Estates for over 7 years and takes the lead within […]
ReadmoreElectricity regulatory framework under further review – changes ahead for both embedded networks and stand-alone power systems
The Australian Energy Markets Commission has recently announced two separate reviews – one into the regulation of embedded networks and the other into stand-alone power systems. With the national electricity framework having been founded on a centralised electricity supply model, the explosive growth of both embedded networks and large-scale localised generation options has presented challenges […]
ReadmoreRefusing Consent to Assign a Retail Premises Lease
The recent VCAT decision of AVC Operations Pty Ltd v Teley Pty Ltd [2018] VCAT 931 (AVC Operations) serves to remind us of the limited power of landlords to refuse consent to a request to assign a retail premises lease. When can a landlord refuse consent? Section 60 of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) […]
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