High infrastructure charges that stall new projects, cost jobs and push up the price of housing in Queensland are now a thing of the past following the passing of the Sustainable Planning (Housing Affordability and Infrastructure Charges Reform) Amendment Bill on 25 May 2011. The Bill aims to establish, through State planning regulations, a...
The new Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (Qld) (BCCM) was given Royal Assent on 14 April 2011. This legislation changes the way body corporate fees are proportioned between lot owners and can be amended. New disclosure obligations for sellers Sellers will now need to provide additional disclosure when...
The Queensland Government has introduced new pool safety laws that that amend the Building Act 1975 (Qld). The laws affect both new and existing pools and have significant impact on sellers, buyers, landlords, tenants and real estate agents. All pools must comply with the new pool safety rules by 30 November 2015 (or...
In a landmark decision handed down in the Federal Court, Justice Gordon held that Telstra had failed to establish that copyright subsists in the contents of the Yellow Pages and White Pages telephone directories. Telstra and Sensis had alleged the publishers of ‘Local Directories’, which had been distributed in Queensland, Northern Territory and New South...
A recent study found less than 20 percent of Australians know their legal rights when they buy goods or services. The study, by the National Education and Investigation Advisory Taskforce, also found that consumers are spending, on average, almost six hours trying to resolve problems with purchased goods and services. Many businesses are also unsure...
The Office of Fair Trading has warned consumers to beware of discrepancies between what they are promised by salespeople and what is stipulated in the contract. A story was reported by a man who decided to buy a second-hand car at a dealership and was told by the salesman that a new car stereo would...
A landmark decision may have potentially absolved Internet Service Providers of any responsibility to stop illegal file-sharing amongst their users, but media companies are still looking for a solution. Perth-based Internet service provider (ISP) iiNet, the third largest ISP in Australia, has defended proceedings brought against it by 34 media companies, including Village Roadshow, Universal...
In the instance of a company going bankrupt, insolvent or into receivership, what are the rights of an employee? The Australian Government protects employees through the implementation of regulation and legislation such as the Corporations Act 2001, as well as through schemes such as the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS). GEERS is a...
As you are aware, new laws for pool safety, including spas, came into effect on 1 December 2010 for Queensland pool owners in the aim of reducing incidents of drowning and serious immersion injuries among young children in swimming pools. Previously, pool owners were required to ensure a pool was enclosed with compliant fencing regardless...
This article takes a look at the emerging issue of social-networking in the legal space. Social-networking has become part of everyday life with new uses and applications continuing to emerge. The use of social networking continues to grow with Facebook, MySpace and Twitter boasting a combined membership of 730 million people. At the same time,...
