Australia

When family law orders are made, whether on an interim or a final basis, they are binding on all parties. Breaching a family law order is a serious offence, unless you have a reasonable excuse. When a party breaches an order, the other party has a range of options for enforcing the order or getting…

When information is needed from a third party relating to the subject of legal proceedings, a party may issue a subpoena for that information to be provided to the court. There are three types of subpoenas: a subpoena for production, a subpoena to give evidence, and a subpoena for production and to give evidence. Subpoenas…

Online activity by individuals frequently breaches the criminal and civil law. Some common examples of unlawful online activity is the downloading of films, music and other material through sites like Pirate Bay and the posting of defamatory comments online. These behaviors can give rise to civil actions for torts such as breach of copyright and…

Last year, Federal Attorney-General George Brandis announced that the family law system, which has not been overhauled since the Family Court was established in 1976,  would be subject to a wide-ranging review. Concerns about the current family law system include the length of time it takes for a matter to be finalised, the cost of…

When spoken about in a family law context, the word ‘separation’ describes the termination of a marriage or de facto partnership. A couple is said to have separated once they stop living together as a couple. Unlike marriage or divorce, there is no legal process for separation. The absence of a formal process means that…

Any document filed with a court must be served on the other party or parties. There are different rules as to how to serve  documents of different types in family law matters. While documents that start the court process, also called initiating processes or initiating applications, are generally required to be served by hand, some…

It is unfortunately all too common for a parent to withhold a child from the other parent or to move interstate or even overseas in an attempt to stop the other parent from having contact with the child. In this situation, the other parent or another interested party, like a grandparent, can seek court orders…

Visa cancellations are governed by Section 116 of the Migration Act, which gives the Minister and his delegates the power to cancel a visa in the following circumstances: i. Breach of visa conditions; ii. Failure to comply to visa conditions; iii. Purposely providing incorrect or bogus information; or iv. For the health, safety and good…

Insolvency is the most common reason that companies are wound up.  When an application to wind up a company in insolvency is made, the court must determine whether the company is in fact insolvent. The Corporations Act defines ‘insolvency’ as being unable to pay one’s debts when and as they become due and payable (Section…

Immunisation of children is a process of protecting individuals from illness caused by infection with micro-organisms (formally called pathogens) by vaccinating them early in life. The purpose of immunisation is to prevent people from acquiring infections and to protect them against the longer-term complications of those infections, which can include chronic illnesses, such as cancer,…

Aficionados of the television programme Seinfeld may recall George Costanza’s frank assessment that the internet had only two significant uses: stock tips and porn. But the world has changed markedly since the 1990s and the internet now has many uses that were not anticipated back then. The Dark Web, which has emerged in the last…

In recent years, as it has become more common to form relationships online, there has been growing concern about adults using online forums to meet children and teenagers and trying to engage them in sexual acts or relationships. While criminal offences have long existed to prosecute sexual contact between children and adults, new categories of…

The Privacy Act 1988 is an Australian Commonwealth law that regulates the handling of personal information about individuals. Personal information is defined by the Act as information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Common…

After the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, Australia’s criminal laws were amended to include a range of terrorism offences. Prior to 2001, acts of terrorism could only be prosecuted under general criminal law provisions such as murder, bombing or aircraft hijacking. In 2002, the first terrorism-specific criminal offences were introduced to the Commonwealth Criminal…

How an inheritance is dealt with in a property settlement depends on the circumstances of the particular case. When the money was inherited, what the intentions of the deceased were and how the money was used will all be relevant factors in determining whether the inheritance forms part of the asset pool, or is ‘protected’…

Parenting matters are determined based on the court’s assessment of what is in the best interests of the child. The Family Law Act sets out what factors must be considered in assessing what is in the best interests of a child and these include the views of children where they are known. In many cases,…