News and resources

You miss out on getting a job and later find it was due to a bad reference from the person you nominated to act as your referee. Referees are supposed to give a prospective employer a full and frank appraisal of their former employee’s work performance while they were employed by the referee. They should […]

Shopkeepers unwilling to confront thieves despite huge cost to business Shoplifting, theft, robbery and vandalism cost Australian businesses up to $9 billion a year, but the National Retail Association says only 20 per cent of thefts are reported to police. That is largely because confronting thieves pocketing goods in your store could lead to confrontation, […]

Australian Consumer Law is designed to protect a degree of truth in advertising, so businesses need to be aware of the limits to which they can go in promoting their brand and pushing sales. In a Federal Court judgement in 2020, an eyewear retailer was fined $3.5 million for misleading and deceptive conduct. It was […]

Insurance companies were issued a strong warning after the Federal Court fined the German-based global giant Allianz $1.5 million at the end of 2021 for misleading conduct in the sale of travel insurance. Allianz Australia and its related company, AWP Australia, were found to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in promoting their travel […]

Unfair contract terms protections have been extended under new legislation to include standard insurance contracts. The Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response – Protecting Consumers (2019 Measures)) Act 2020 has amended the law relating to unfair contract terms in insurance contracts and also applies to funeral expense facilities and mortgage brokers. The new legislation […]

With the government encouraging self-funded retirees to tap into their home’s equity to fund their existence, it is timely to explore the pros and cons of taking out a reverse mortgage. During the 2020 budget debate, the then Assistant Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume told parliament that self-funded retirees who are struggling to stay afloat […]

According to the Australian Federal Police, more than $79 million has been lost to cybercriminals in the past 12 months through business email compromise, also known as BEC scams or payment redirection scams. In such scams, cybercriminals trick victims by getting them to redirect their legitimate fund transfers, which victims think they are making to […]

These days, most people have superannuation. Indeed, some people have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in superannuation. Not surprisingly, when such large amounts of money are involved, conflicts often arise over what happens to a deceased person’s superannuation death benefit. One such conflict arose in the 2018 case of Burgess v Burgess, […]

With so many new small businesses, cottage industries and start-ups using the internet to promote themselves and sell their products across the globe, it’s important to understand that a trademark infringement on the internet could be very costly. Tiffany & Co issues trademark infringement warning to small Australian business Many small online businesses find themselves […]

A heated legal battle over the yellow lids on peanut butter jars might seem a little crazy to outsiders. But in 2019, two peanut butter manufacturers engaged in a multi-million dollar legal conflict, which had them heading to court over the yellow lids on the jars. The Chicago-based food giant Kraft Heinz was battling Australian […]

You have ageing parents who don’t want to move into aged care. There is room to extend your home or build out the back. The prospect of having mum and dad living close by is heartening. It’s also mutually advantageous: you can help care for them, while they can help care for your young kids. […]

A recent case in the NSW Supreme Court illustrates just how insidious cybercrime can be, and also how easy it is to suffer from the actions of a cybercriminal.

The vendor and purchaser entered into a contract for sale of land for a residence in NSW.

The contract was generally of the usual form, and included a clause requiring that the purchaser pay the 10% deposit, being $56,000, either by cash of up to $2000, or by cheque.

The contract required payment of the deposit by two instalments, the first instalment on the day the contract was entered into, and the second of $54,600 on a later date.

Non-Indigenous control of Aboriginal flag a surprise to many The furore over the Aboriginal flag not being able to be used at sporting events unless a big fee is paid to the copyright holder highlights the question of what public objects can be owned. Many people were surprised and outraged to learn that the black, […]

The Federal Court has recently ruled that low paid workers who lose their job when their employer loses contracts or clients, must still be paid redundancy entitlements. The landmark decision will have wide-ranging consequences for Australian businesses, especially during the difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Company argues it was not obliged to pay redundancies […]

In June 2017, the purchasers entered into an off-the-plan contract to buy a townhouse from the developer.

At the time of signing the contract, the townhouse’s outside area was bare dirt.

However, the purchasers’ understanding was that this area would be covered with grass.

A grass area was important to them as they had an 18-month-old son.

The grass area was shown in the floor plan and the landscape plans.

These were approved for the purposes of the development consent and the construction certificate that had been issued to the developer before construction of the townhouse began.

In 2018, new Australian Consumer Law legislation was passed by parliament. With a focus on increased penalties, these laws have had a significant impact on the way business is conducted in Australia. Consumer protection legislation increases penalties for companies breaching law Under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, the legislation increased the maximum penalty for […]

Can you renegotiate a contract because of the impact of coronavirus? The Covid-19 crisis has adversely impacted many common transactions. Federal and state governments have enacted laws which enable the parties to some transactions to renegotiate the terms of their contracts if they have been disadvantaged due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Examples include commercial leases […]

Suppose you were to come to a verbal agreement on a deal with another person and shake hands on it. Sometime later, the other person fails to complete their side of the deal. Where does the law stand? Are handshake agreements enforceable? Or are they worth zilch? You may be surprised to learn that verbal […]