As a business owner you will be aware that you must provide a safe work environment. Recently, new laws have been introduced in QLD, Vic, the NT and the ACT relating to industrial manslaughter. These laws mean that the operators of businesses in those states and territories can be held criminally liable for the death of their employees at work. Read more
For your business to survive and thrive you must understand the importance of cashflow. Cashflow is greatly affected by the time you give your customers to pay your invoices. Whilst it is common for businesses to give 30-day payment terms, it is often the case that big businesses impose payment terms of 60, 90 or 120 days. As small business owners generally want to have big businesses as customers, they have little choice but to agree, even though it will adversely impact on their cash flow. As a consequence, your business could be profitable, but ultimately destroyed by poor cashflow. Read more
In a recent case, there was a young Aboriginal man who had been in and out of youth detention since he was 11 years old. Whilst in detention the man was particularly violent with staff and others, with some victims requiring hospitalisation. Years later there was significant media coverage of the boy’s treatment whilst in detention. It was disclosed that he had been thrown into his cell, threatened, restrained and generally mistreated in a heavy-handed manner. Read more
The owners in a block of units in Manly faced a significant problem. All the residents’ mailboxes were located in a communal mail room. Each mailbox had a lock. The strata managers received reports of break-ins in the communal mail room by gangs stealing mail. The chairman of the owners’ corporation believed that as a result of residents’ failure to keep the mailboxes locked, criminal gangs were able to produce a master key. The chairman of the owners’ corporation emailed all residents asking them to make sure their mailboxes were locked. Read more
A recent family law case saw a husband and wife both decide to deal with their property settlement without engaging lawyers. The couple were struggling to deal with a complex financial situation, with multiple businesses and financial interests between them. Read more
If your business supplies goods or services then generally the Australian Consumer Law will have an impact on your obligations to your customers. Read more
A few years ago, a builder purchased a property in a regenerated suburb. He intended to knock down the existing house and build on it a large new house for his family. Read more
In a recent case a father had two sons and no other family. The father made a will naming the older son as his executor. The will said that the estate was to be divided equally between the two sons. Read more
On 11 June 2020 the Parliament of NSW passed the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 which applies to building work, including residential buildings. The law was introduced following concerns raised about building defects and combustible cladding after reports of defects in high rise buildings. Read more
As digital assets continue to rise in popularity, the amount of people holding digital assets and dying without either telling others of the assets, or not providing enough information in order to access the assets, is dramatically on the rise Read more