Civil Law

In Victoria, a private security license authorizes a person to carry out security guard work, security guard training, bodyguarding, crowd control and investigator work. Private security licenses in Victoria are heavily regulated. There is a substantial number of obligations placed on license holders to ensure that they meet the required character and professional tests in…

Many people have held a Working With Children check at some point in their life. This may have been for the purpose of volunteer work, community engagement or to be involved with a local sporting club. It may also have been a compulsory check for the purpose of paid employment. Many people adopt the ‘set…

With over 600,000 jobs lost and over six million people on JobKeeper, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the Australian economy. As a result, many businesses, small and large, have been faced with tough decisions pertaining to their employees. With businesses across various industries suffering substantial losses in revenue, many employers have…

We often believe that anything that we find annoying is a nuisance. However, there is a difference between what we believe is annoying and what the courts define as a nuisance. Nuisance can be dealt with as a civil law issue and it can also be a criminal offence. At civil law, it is not…

The World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic on the 11 March 2020. On the 15 March 2020 the Western Australian Minister for Emergency Services and the State Government declared a State of Emergency in WA under the Emergency Management Act 2005 and a Public Health Emergency under the Public Health 2016 Act. Under these declarations,…

The Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) sets out the rules and procedures surrounding adult guardianship in Western Australia.  Adult guardianship is necessary when a person is unable to make their own decisions about their lifestyle, medical treatment and legal affairs and requires another person to make decisions on their behalf. Legislation Section 43 of…

On 24 April 2020 Victoria passed legislation temporarily amending the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 will be in force for six months. Among other things, it seeks to protect tenants and landlords who are unable to perform their obligations due to a COVID-19…

On 24 April 2020, the Queensland government passed the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation. The Regulation makes temporary changes to the Queensland Residential Tenancies Act to make allowances for tenants suffering excessive hardship because of COVID-19 and will remain in force until 31 December 2020. It was made under the power…

On 23 March 2020 it was announced that federal Parliament would not sit again until 11 August 2020 due to the spread of the Coronavirus. The Parliamentary sittings of May and June were cancelled and the budget was postponed until October. The move was opposed by Labor and the Greens, who expressed concerns that legislation…

On 7 April 2020, the national cabinet announced a Mandatory Code of Conduct that would apply to commercial leases where the tenant is a small or medium-sized business which has been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Code imposes good faith leasing principles that are set to reshape relations between landlords and commercial tenants…

Many people who are residential tenants in New South Wales have been financially disadvantaged by COVID-19. This may be because of reduced work hours, because of business closures or because of being unable to work due to illness. In recognition of the exceptional circumstances facing renters at the moment, the state government has introduced temporary…

The commercial landscape that we once knew has been in turmoil since the outbreak of COVID-19. Federal and State Governments have been forced to take immediate action to curb the spread of this virus. These actions have had negative commercial and economic implications for Australian and Global businesses. Restrictions are being imposed on non-essential businesses…

As businesses shut down or reduce their operations due to the spread of COVID-19, parties to commercial contracts may be seeking to resile from their contractual obligations. One way a party to a commercial contract may be excused from performing all or some of its obligations is through reliance on a force majeure clause. This…

The use of drones for recreational, as well as commercial, purposes in Australia is becoming more and more common. Drones have been used in Australia for law enforcement, by the media and by scientists.  The laws surrounding drone use are set out in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations. However, some aspects of drone use raise…

Bankruptcy proceedings are a method of enforcing judgment debts that involve the defendant being made bankrupt. Bankruptcy can affect a person’s ability to travel overseas, their employment and any business they may own. Bankruptcy can also affect your ability to obtain credit and your overall credit rating. Credit reporting agencies keep a record of bankruptcy…

The Queensland parliament passed the Human Rights Act 2019 on 27 February 2019. Queensland is only the third Australian jurisdiction to pass human rights legislation, along with Victoria and the ACT. Whilst Australia is a signatory to numerous international human rights treaties, these have not been incorporated into Australian law through federal legislation. The passage…