VIC

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…

Provocation was abolished as a partial defence to murder in Victoria in 2005. Prior to that year, provocation could be used to reduce a conviction of murder to one of manslaughter. Provocation in Victoria no longer amounts to a partial defence. However, any provocative conduct by a victim is considered in determining the appropriate sentence…

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…

If you are summonsed to attend court for jury service, you must make every effort to attend. If you are unable to attend for a legitimate reason, such as illness or carer’s responsibilities, you must apply for a deferral or apply to be excused, by filling in the form on the back of the summons. Juries are…

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…

The Children’s Court of Victoria deals with child protection matters, criminal matters, intervention orders and infringements and fines. The criminal division of the children’s court deals with charges against young people who were aged between 10 and 17 at the time of the offence. Young people who are under 10 cannot be charged with criminal…

There are a range of offences in Victoria that involve entering a home, place or premises without authority. These range from very serious offences such as aggravated burglary and home invasion to relatively trivial ones. An owner or occupier of land or premises is allowed to forcefully eject a person who enters unlawfully. However, it…

Perverting the course of justice is an offence consisting of any conduct done in order to prevent justice being served upon the offender or upon another person. It is a serious offence that carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. However, there is a wide spectrum of offending that falls within the category of…

Abortion is the most common surgical procedure performed in Australia with an estimated 80,000 abortions conducted each year. Laws about abortion vary between states and territories, but in most jurisdictions access to abortions is restricted by gestational limits and in some parts of the country, an abortion can only be obtained if it is a…

Tendency and coincidence evidence, also referred to as propensity or similar fact evidence, is evidence that an accused has a tendency to commit certain acts, based on the assertion that they have done it before, or that it is likely that an accused committed multiple acts based on the similarity of multiple allegations against them.…

When a person is found guilty and sentenced in the Magistrates Court, they may wish to consider filing an appeal against either the verdict or the sentence. This article explores the processes and accompanying restrictions involved in pursuing such an appeal. Appeals to the County Court If a person is found guilty of a criminal…

The legal framework for surrogacy in Victoria provides that individuals or couples may engage a surrogate to carry a pregnancy if they are otherwise not be able to have children. Surrogacy comes under the umbrella of Assisted Reproductive Treatment (‘ART’) together with IVF and donor treatments. Surrogacy in Victoria is regulated by the Assisted Reproductive…

When a person pleads guilty or is found guilty of an offence in Victoria and the person suffers from a mental illness, one of the sentencing options available to the court is a Court Secure Treatment Order. A Court Secure Treatment Order is made when the circumstances are such that if the person did not…

On 16 August 2018, the Victorian Court of Appeal significantly reduced the sentence given to Akon Guode. Ms Guode was sentenced to a total of 26 years and six months imprisonment for the murder of her two four-year-old children, the infanticide of her 18 month-old child and the attempted murder of her five-year-old child. On…

When a person is charged with a serious indictable offence that must be dealt with by the Supreme Court or County Court, the accused must first be ‘committed’ to a higher court by a magistrate. This occurs by way of a proceeding known as a Committal Hearing. At a Committal Hearing, a magistrate considers the…