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Nick Hardy-Clements, Jordan Vincent, Daniel Shestowsky, Michelle Makela , Jack Leitner, James Stevens, Carl Patterson Finch, Sylvie Maranis, Ali Rana and Tanguy Mwilambwe attended a black-tie event at The Star Sydney on 31 August 2018 where the winners of 2018’s Australian Law Awards (ALAs) were announced. Go To Court Lawyers was shortlisted in both the New…

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…

The federal government’s attempt to put in place legislated targets for the reduction of carbon emissions over the next decade in the form of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) has been abandoned as questions about Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership take centre stage. The questions of how best the country can agree on, legislate and achieve targets for…

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…

A Queensland parliamentary inquiry is investigating the problem of wage theft in Queensland. The committee will be looking at the incidence of wage theft in the state, its impact on workers, families, businesses, the community and the economy. It will consider why wage theft is occurring, which industries or occupations it is most prevalent in…

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…

A debate is currently raging in New South Wales as to whether the state’s sexual consent laws need to be changed. The current definition of consent is contained in Section 61HA of the Crimes Act 1900. Consent is defined there as ‘free and voluntary agreement’.  The provision also specifies situations in which a person cannot…

The New South Wales government recently passed a suite of reforms to the NSW Road Transport Act. The changes are designed to make roads safer and to keep traffic laws up to date with social changes and new technology. As part of the reforms, the state government has announced that it will be implementing the use…

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…

The Minister for Corrective Services announced this week that Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, located in the Lockyer Valley, will be turned into a women’s prison. The facility, which is currently a men’s prison, houses 300 prisoners and is operated by the private company Serco. Serco operates a number of other prisons around Australia, including Acacia…

On 1st July 2018, new laws regulating the use of Crown land in New South Wales took effect.  The amendments to the Crown Land Management Act and Crown Land Management Regulations give broad powers to police and other public officials to disperse or ban public gatherings including protests, rallies and meetings. The legislation relates to…

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.…

On 26 June 2018, the Supreme Court of Queensland handed down a decision ordering that Ayla Cresswell could use the sperm of her deceased partner to conceive a child via Assisted Reproductive Therapy (ART). It was a historic decision as no such order had previously been made by an Australian court. The decision has broad…

The Victorian Court of Appeal yesterday handed down its decision on the appeal by Bauer Media against the Supreme Court’s decision to award actor Rebel Wilson 4.5 million dollars damages for defamation. The Court of Appeal reduced the judgment in Wilson’s favour to an award of $600,000, finding that the Supreme Court judge made an…

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…

The award-winning three session Queensland Traffic Offenders Program (QTOP) is now available online. The online program, which aims to educate traffic offenders about the risks of unsafe driving costs $185 and must be completed on a laptop or desktop computer with a camera and a strong internet connection. What does the program involve? The program…

In February 2018, the Home Affairs Department introduced the Identity Matching Services Bill into parliament. This bill, if passed, will allow the Department of Home Affairs to collect, use and disclose information relating to the identity of individuals through biometric facial recognition software. Government departments and some private entities will be allowed to access and…

When a couple separates, their asset pool is dealt with in a property settlement, while arrangements for the care of children are made in a separate proceeding, in the form of parenting orders. But what about the family pets? How do courts decide who gets the dog, cat or other animals? The Family Law Act…

Following the deaths of seven in a mass shooting near Margaret River last week, criticisms have emerged of Australian gun laws. Whilst Australia has historically had a reputation as a leader in effective gun control, this tragedy has raised questions as to whether we are doing enough to ensure the safe use of firearms. What…