Australia

The Senate will on Tuesday debate a bill that if passed will allow the territories to legislate for voluntary euthanasia. The bill was introduced by David Leyonhjelm and would reverse the 1997 ban on the ACT and NT legalising euthanasia, which voided the 1995 decision by the Northern Territory parliament to legalise assisted suicide. The…

In December 2017, the Marriage Act 1961 was amended so that the definition of marriage is now ‘the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.’ The change followed a long debate over same sex marriage. Same sex couples who have married, whether in Australia or overseas, are…

A bill of rights is a list of the fundamental rights of citizens of a country. It exists to protect the rights of individuals from being violated by the state or by other individuals. A bill of rights can be entrenched or unentrenched. An entrenched bill of rights is contained within the constitution of the…

The Queensland Coroner on Monday handed down his findings in the inquest into the 2014 death of Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Khazaei. The coroner found  that the young man’s death was preventable and that he would have survived had he received adequate medical care.  The findings indicated that the death was the result of a…

Under the Family Law Act, property settlements are decided based on how much each party has contributed to the relationship, both in financial and non-financial terms. The conduct of partners during the course of a relationship isn’t generally a relevant factor. But what if a relationship has involved serious violence to one of the parties?…

Go To Court Lawyers has been shortlisted in two categories in the Australian legal industry’s most prestigious awards. GTC has been named a finalist in both the Innovator of the Year Award and the NewLaw Firm of the Year Award categories of the 2018 Australian Law Awards, hosted by Lawyers Weekly. The 18th annual Australian…

In March 2018, the Skilled Migrant 457 Visa was abolished and replaced with the Temporary Skills Shortage 482 Visa. The 482 Visa is a short-term work visa that allows employers to nominate positions to be filled by overseas workers in areas of critical skills shortages. To be granted a 482 Visa, the overseas worker must…

Australia’s anti-discrimination regime is enshrined in both federal and state and territory law. At federal level, the legislation that governs anti-discrimination law is the Age Discrimination Act (ADA), the Australian Human Rights Commission Act, the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) and the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA). Both the ADA and the…

The National Security Legislation Amendment – Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill 2018 passed the Senate yesterday and is set to become law. The bill, which was introduced by Malcolm Turnbull and supported by the ALP, has been widely criticised as infringing on democratic rights and moving Australia in the direction of becoming a police state.…

Under the Family Law Act, a legal or de facto spouse may claim spousal maintenance after separation. Spousal maintenance is payable if there is a substantial difference in the incomes of the spouses at the date of separation. If a spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance, the spouse with the higher income must provide him…

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…