Articles

On 10 November 2020, the Federal Government announced changes to the unfair contract term provisions in the Australian Consumer Law, which now make unfair contract terms illegal and punishable by civil penalties. Further changes have also been proposed in relation to expanding the threshold of the term ‘small business’ and the definition of a ‘standard form contract’.

Searching and completing registrations on the Personal Property Securities Register can often be confusing and counterintuitive. In this article, we provide some tips to avoid making common mistakes when searching or completing registrations on the PPSR.

The Personal Property Securities Register is the national register of security interests in personal property. Given that the PPSR affects many, if not most commercial transactions, it is important that everyone involved in business has a basic understanding of how the PPSR works.

Getting married is often one of the happiest days of a person’s life. Understandably, your Will is one of the last things on your mind. It is important to note, however, that your existing Will is revoked by your marriage.

Separation and family law property settlements do not revoke a Will. It is only in the event of a divorce that separation will have an effect on your Will as our Wills & Estates lawyers explain.

Back in April, during the initial COVID-19 crisis, the Federal Parliament and Fair Work Commission made a number of unprecedented, temporary changes to employment law. The most important of these changes was the introduction of the JobKeeper directions into the Fair Work Act.

Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution process whereby the parties seek to resolve disputes by reaching a mutually-agreeable settlement, and thus avoiding litigation through the courts.

We provide a few practical steps that can be taken when attempting to resolve commercial disputes during the COVID-19 pandemic period. These disputes may stem from businesses becoming unable or unwilling to meet their contractual obligations or adjust to the disruption which may have come about though lockdown periods, business closures, reductions in staffing, cancellations of events and travel restrictions.

Leaving a bequest or a gift to a charity in your Will is a good way to continue support for a charity that is close to your heart, long after you’re gone.

The Federal Government has now has passed legislation to implement JobKeeper post-27 September 2020 when the scheme was originally scheduled to expire. There have been a number of important changes to Jobkeeper 2.0 since it was first announced in July. In particular, there is now a less stringent turnover test and the scheme can also cover employees employed as of 1 July 2020, not just those employed as of 1 March 2020. We shall call this JobKeeper 2.1.

To what extent can an employer use workplace policies to regulate what their employees say outside work? The question has become very topical, with the high profile court cases of Israel Folau and Michaela Banerji both making headlines last year. The question has arisen again, this time in a recent decision by the Full Federal Court in a case involving Dr Gary Rumble, a constitutional lawyer, and his former employer, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers.

In response to the current coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government recently introduced a number of financial measures in its Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Vic)(“the Act’). Much of the Act deals with economic stimulus measures, such as stimulus payments and superannuation draw-downs, however Schedule 12 is entitled “Temporary relief for financially distressed individuals and businesses” and deals with three key areas of temporary reform.