2016
Disclosure Statements – What are they and why do I need one?
If you are the tenant or landlord of a retail or commercial lease, your lawyer probably required you to sign a Disclosure Statement prior to the commencement of the lease. You may be about to enter into a lease and have been provided with a Disclosure Statement. You may be wondering, what is this? Why …
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Employment contracts: does a step back from implied terms mean that the goal posts are moving?
Trust and confidence – Barker In the 2014 case Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Barker (Barker), the High Court of Australia determined that there is no implied term of mutual trust and confidence in contracts of employment in Australia. This was considered by some as a sign that the foundations relied upon in employment contracts …
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Commercial and Retail Leasing: Bank Guarantee v Bond
It is typical for landlords to require tenants to provide security under a lease, to secure the tenant’s obligations under the lease. There are various types of security that may be provided, including bank guarantees, bonds and – where the tenant is a company – personal guarantees from the directors of the tenant entity. The …
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Unfair Contract Terms – A Change Is Coming
The unfair contracts legislation is being amended with effect from 12 November 2016 to apply to small businesses in addition to individuals. What is the current law? Unfair contract terms are regulated under the Australian Consumer Law – Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) Schedule 2 (CCA). Section 23 of the CCA states that any …
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Cleaning up a Toxic Workplace Culture
In recent years, the concept of workplace culture has come into the spotlight exposing some of Australia’s largest organisations, including the Australian Defence Force in 2013, and more recently during 2016, the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The recent independent review into the workplace culture of the AFP by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has …
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Sharapova Vs Essendon
On 4 October 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), issued a decision reducing the suspension given by an Independent Tribunal of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), to Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova for committing an anti-doping violation. The CAS reduced Sharapova’s suspension from two years down to fifteen months, after finding that she …
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What you need to know about the new “medical research” function for an Enduring Power of Attorney
On 1 September 2016 the Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (the Act) was amended to allow a person (the Principal) to authorise their nominated attorney to make decisions about medical research matters involving ethically approved research when the Principal becomes a person with impaired decision making capacity. This authority is in addition to the existing …
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5 essential probity tasks in government procurement
When the Government spends money, it is spending your money and my money, so we expect that there is a certain level of transparency and accountability. If there is little transparency or accountability, it is easy to throw around allegations of bias, and unfair advantage. Such allegations are not only damaging to the individuals involved, …
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Is it a bird, is it a plane – no it’s a drone! The privacy implications of the increased use of drones
It is now easier to legally operate drones in Australia – not all drones but smaller and lighter commercially operated drones. Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that can be remotely or autonomously controlled. They can include cameras making them capable of taking aerial audio and visual recordings and photos raising a whole host of legal …
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Debt Recovery Challenges
In November 2015 Griffin Legal published a blog outlining the debt recovery processes in the ACT. In this blog, we touch on some of the challenges faced by our clients in the debt recovery area, and what can be done in order to counteract those challenges. Challenge The debtor is disputing the amount owing. Recommendation …
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