Victoria has declared a state of emergency in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The coronavirus and the public health measures that will be taken to limit its spread presents numerous challenges to businesses. In this article, we provide general information to help employers navigate the next few weeks and months.
The Federal Circuit Court of Australia has improved the process for dealing with disputes that only involve property, where the value is less than $500,000.00. To that end, the Court has released its second Practice Direction of 2020, which sets out new guiding management principles for cases that meet the definition of a “Priority Property Pool under $500,000 Case” (PPP500).
The Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2019, which will amend the Retail Leases Act 2003 has now passed through parliament and will be enacted into law in the coming months. The key changes resulting from the Retail Leases Amendment Bill include changes to Essential Safety Measures, Disclosure Statements, options to renew the Lease, among others.
In an ideal world, parenting orders and final court orders would be a fixed endpoint to what is often a long, gruelling process. Unfortunately, sometimes this is not always the case, with problems continuing to arise from parents not abiding by the final orders granted. So, what action can you take if your former partner is breaching these orders? The first thing to be aware of is that when someone breaches a court order, this is known as a contravention, and is an offence punishable by the court.
A grant of representation made by a court outside of Victoria does not automatically carry the same authority to deal with assets situated in Victoria compared to a grant that is made in Victoria. However, the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) (‘Act’) provides for the acceptance of grants of representation made interstate and in specific overseas jurisdictions. This process is known as resealing.
A restrictive covenant is an agreement between parties which restricts the use and benefit of one parcel of land for the benefit of other parcels of land. In most cases, once these agreements are entered into, they are registered on Title. They are not removed once you purchase the property. If you are looking sell your current property, you are required to disclose any existing covenants in your Vendor’s Statement.
Under section 18 of the ACL, persons involved in trade or commerce are prohibited from engaging in conduct that is misleading or deceptive. This includes a prohibition of conduct that is likely to mislead or deceive. Importantly, there is no requirement that the misleading conduct be intentional, or that anyone suffer any loss or damage as a result of the conduct. Claims of misleading and deceptive conduct can be made by the ACCC or by anyone to whom the misleading conduct was directed – though in the latter case, this would be unlikely to occur unless some loss or damage had been suffered.
You don’t need to be married to be afforded property rights under the Family Law Act, which recognises the rights of de facto partners/relationships in the unfortunate event of a separation. There are, however, requirements to be classified as a ‘de facto partner’ or part of a ‘de facto relationship’.
Businesses are generally aware that they need to obtain Workers Compensation insurance for their employees. But did you know that you may have to obtain Workers Compensation insurance for your independent contractors? Workers Compensation insurance is required in circumstances where contractors are classified as workers of an employer.
When water causes damage to your property, it can be costly and time-consuming to fix. Where the water has come from a neighbouring property, this is not a cost that you should necessarily have to bear. The Water Act 1989 (Vic) sets out the legal position for those affected by water damage originating from a neighbouring property and provides an avenue through which legal action may be taken.
Mediation is a voluntary, confidential process whereby two or more parties agree to sit down and attempt to resolve their differences in an informal setting. There is no obligation to reach an agreement and sometimes, mediation can take multiple sessions to reach an agreement which may have never been achieved in a Court setting. Employment mediation is no different!
Separations are challenging enough, let alone calling off an engagement. One of the difficult questions this raises is: who gets the engagement ring after a break up? As is commonly the case when it comes to the division of property in a separation, former partners do not always see eye-to-eye, and engagement rings are no exception. Inevitably, when common ground cannot be reached, the law will step in.
