Australia

Disability discrimination occurs when a person who has a disability or is perceived to have a disability is treated less favourably than a person without a disability in the same circumstances. Disability discrimination can be direct or indirect. At a federal level, Disability discrimination is governed by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. What is the…

Most applicants for Australian visas are required to fulfill the migration Health Requirement. The criteria for health assessments are determined by the length of stay, purpose of visit and the type of visa being applied for. The Department of Immigration and Citizenships states that the Health Requirement is necessary to: Protect the Australian community from…

A case is currently before the High Court concerning whether a man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple has standing to seek parenting orders over the child. Under New South Wales law, a sperm donor is not a parent. However, under the federal Family Law system, biological or non-biological parents may be recognised as…

When evidence in a criminal matter has been obtained in a way that did not comply with procedural rules, the court will sometimes be asked to exercise its discretion to exclude the evidence. Common situations where the exclusion of evidence improperly obtained arises are a police interview that was carried out without the proper caution…

The Prime Minister has vowed to introduce tough new penalties for vegan activists if he is re-elected in May. The Melbourne CBD was shut down last week by a peaceful protest against the use and abuse of animals in factory farms. The protest was part of a national day of action, when protesters also targeted…

The High Court today handed down its decision in respect of two anti-abortion activists who challenged the constitutionality of laws restricting behaviour within safe access zones in Victoria and Tasmania. Kathleen Clubb of Melbourne and Graham Preston of Hobart, challenged fines they received for protesting within the no protest zones around medical clinics offering abortion…

Throughout the English-speaking legal world, natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis are referred to as acts of God. Acts of God are circumstances that are outside of anyone’s control and that could not be foreseen or guarded against. Acts of God may provide a defence or an exception to liability, for example, in a…

Under Section 131 of the Evidence Act, communications between parties made in the course of negotiating a dispute are privileged. This means that such communications are not admissible as evidence in any family law proceedings that may arise. However, the act provides a number of exceptions to this rule where not admitting such a communication…

One of the most important rules of evidence when it comes to cross-examination is known as the Brown v Dunn rule. This rule was established in the 1893 English Court of Appeal decision of Brown v Dunn. The rule applies both in criminal and civil proceedings. Essentially the Brown v Dunn rule is a rule…

Section 90B of the Family Law Act sets out the circumstances in which a written agreement made by parties contemplating marriage is a binding financial agreement. In the recent case of Graham v Squibb, the Family Court considered the situation where parties had purported to make such an agreement but had not complied with the…

On 13 March 2019 the High Court handed down its decision in a native title compensation matter where it considered the entitlements of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali peoples to compensation for the extinguishment of their native title rights and interests. The decision marks the first time the High Court has considered a native title compensation…

The Uluru Statement From the Heart is an Indigenous consensus position that resulted from an Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Referendum Convention held in 2017. The Convention sought to come to an agreement about an approach to constitutional recognition and to arrive at a basis for dual and complementary sovereignty between Indigenous and settler people.…

Today primary and secondary school students around the world walked out of school to demand action on climate change. Inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who organised the first student strike over climate change in August 2018, the students striking in Australia made three specific demands to the Morrison government: Stop the Adani…

In the last five years, around 1500 New Zealand citizens have been deported from Australia after committing criminal offences in Australia. The number of deportations of NZ citizens increased sharply after the Migration Act was amended in 2014, giving the minister broader powers to cancel visas and amending the character test.  Many of those deported…

Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), a day that has been used to celebrate the achievements of women since 1910. International Women’s Day was first marked in Australia in Sydney in 1928 and had spread to all capital citied by 1931. Today, IWD is a day to reflect on the progress that has been made…

The time of year when most of us are engaged in buying gifts for family and loved ones has just passed. Sometimes these gifts will be small such as a nice bottle of wine but sometimes they are generous gifts, like money for the deposit on a house, or a car. This article discusses how…