Civil Law

Children are generally responsible for the consequences of any wrongful acts they commit. However, the degree of reasonable care to be expected of a child depends on the age and experience of the child. How the liability of children is assessed is in some respects different from how the wrongdoing of an adult would be…

Victoria is one of the most progressive Australian jurisdictions with respect to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people. Gay activism in Australia began in Melbourne, with gay rights organisation such as Daughters of Bilitis, Society Five and Homosexual Law Reform Coalition forming during the 70s.  In 2016, Premier Daniel…

Contributory negligence arises when a plaintiff’s lack of care contributed to the harm or injury they suffered. It can be advanced as a full or a partial defence by a person being sued for the tort of negligence. Whether a plaintiff was contributorily negligent will depend on whether they failed to take the standard of…

A duty of care is a legal obligation to avoid acts or omissions that could foreseeably lead to harm to another person. A breach of a duty of care that leads to harm to someone amounts to the tort of negligence. In Victoria, the law of negligence is governed by the Wrongs Act 1958, and…

Racial vilification is prohibited in Victoria under both state and federal law. While the Racial Discrimination Act makes racially offensive behaviour unlawful at a federal level, the Victorian Racial and Religious Tolerance Act applies to both racial and religious vilification. The act makes it unlawful to publicly vilify a person or a group based on…

A duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on a person to take a reasonable standard of care when doing acts that could foreseeably harm others. Duty of care is an element of the tort of negligence. If a person suffers injury as the result of another party’s negligent act or omission, the injured…

Significant changes were made to the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act 1997 in August 2018. These changes will come into effect progressively, between 2019 and 2020. Among the changes are provisions setting minimum standards for rental properties, making renting with a pet easier and various other amendments designed to protect the rights of tenants. The Victorian…

Australia has among the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with 62% of households having a pet. There is, therefore, a very high demand for pet-friendly accommodation. However, in Queensland renting with a pet can be very difficult with only about 10% of rental properties allowing pets. Landlords and property managers often refuse…

Torts are civil wrongs done by one party to another. A tort causes a person to suffer loss or harm. A person who is the claimant in a tort may sue for damages or other relief. Torts are generally created by the common law but there are also statutory wrongs which amount to torts. Torts…

Whether it is legal to photograph someone without permission, or to publish or circulate a photograph of someone without permission, are questions that lawyers often get asked. In the age of social media, it is more common than ever to photograph someone without their permission and circulate images of them, images which may have been…

Advocates for LGBTIQ rights in the Northern Territory have campaigned long and hard for an end to discrimination against LGBTIQ people. As the law in the NT now stands, the rights of non-heterosexuals are protected in most areas. However, the NT Anti-Discrimination Act does not comprehensively protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of gender…

Sexual harassment is prohibited in Queensland under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 and complaints about sexual harassment can be made to the Queensland Anti-discrimination Commissioner. The prohibition on sexual harassment applies in all areas of life including work, study and recreation.  Many instances of sexual harassment that occur in Queensland are also actionable under federal law…

Same sex marriage became legal in Australia on 9 December 2017, with the Marriage Act being amended so that the definition of marriage is now ‘a union of two people’ rather than ‘a union of a man and a woman.’   The change meant that same-sex couples who married overseas now have their marriages recognised by…

If you are performing paid work, or if you are paying someone to do work, it is important to be clear about whether the arrangement is one of employer and employee or of principal and contractor. An employee is part of an employer’s business; a contractor is running their own business. There are different tax and…

Mediation is an important and usually a compulsory step when it comes to Civil Litigation proceedings. The purpose of mediation is to see whether a mutually acceptable resolution can be achieved between the parties to avoid the matter proceeding to trial. It is prudent for anyone contemplating civil litigation to understand what mediation conferences are and…

The Workplace Gender Equality Act was passed in 2012 and replaced the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. It seeks to promote and improve gender equality in the workplace and in employment generally. The legislation creates a statutory body to support employers to work towards eliminating discrimination on the basis of gender…