Recent amendments to the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998 now severely restrict smoking displays and advertising at retail outlets. These new laws banning point of sale tobacco displays are aimed at reducing cigarette uptake, particularly among younger Queenslanders. Smoking kills an estimated 3,400 Queenslanders every year and more than 30,450 people are admitted...
Practical Driving Tested Queenslanders are being called on to give feedback and ideas for improving Queensland’s practical driving test, known as Q-SAFE. Q-SAFE is designed to evaluate a person’s ability to drive safely and correctly in different situations, however the driving test has not been reviewed in more than a decade. Recommendations to date included:...
Hoons and repeat dangerous drivers will lose their vehicles for seven days – which is up from the current period of two days – for their first offence (type 1 offence) under changes to be made to the State’s vehicle impoundment laws. Those caught for a second time (type 2 offence) will lose their vehicle for...
New recreational boating safety reforms will come into effect from January 2012. The reforms include enhanced night and electronic navigation training incorporated into the existing BoatSafe course, extending the number of coastal bars where personal floatation devices must be worn, additional safety equipment requirements for personal watercraft operating offshore, and higher standards for new large...
The Commission of Inquiry has conducted hearings during the months of September and October which have followed on from the August Commission Enquiry into to 2010/2011 Queensland floods. Its interim report provides 175 recommendations focused on changes to be implemented before the next wet season. More than 660 written public submissions were received and sworn statements...
As many of you would be aware, since 1st August 2011 Queenslanders are no longer able to apply for the ‘principle place of residence’ stamp duty concession after the State Government cancelled the concession for transfer duties. Since 1st August 2011, consumers have had to pay up to 30 percent more in transfer duties, equating to...
The Court has ordered respondents to publish a corrective video on YouTube and other video-streaming websites to counter false and misleading representations. This is the first occurrence of its kind for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The proceedings against Newlife Publishing and Marketing Pty Ltd, Renew You Centre for Wellbeing and Longevity Pty...
The Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 calls for equal contributions to the running costs of a building through lot entitlements unless it is ‘just and equitable’. Effectively, if a unit owner does not believe they are being charged body corporate fees fairly they can apply to the Queensland Commercial and Consumer Tribunal for...
Lawyers, academics and journalists raised fresh doubts this week about federal government plans to encourage people to use a statutory privacy tort for lawsuits. The government’s plans to encourage people to sue each other using a statutory privacy tort have been denounced by The Rule of Law Institute as so uncertain as to undermine the...
Promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Queensland Forensic Disability Bill 2011 was introduced into Queensland Parliament on 7 April 2011 to provide a framework to support Queensland’s Forensic Disability Service. This service is a purpose built therapeutic environment for people with an intellectual or cognitive disability (and no...
