GL Insights
READY FOR (LAND) TAX TIME?
Land Tax Liability Amendments The Land Tax Act 2004 (ACT) (the Act) was amended last year, resulting in many more home owners being liable for land tax. This means home owners must reconsider their tax obligations. As of 1 July 2018, residential properties that are not the owner’s principle place of residence are liable for …
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What will the new Morrison government mean for privacy?
Earlier this year, the then Communications Minister Mitch Fifield unveiled plans to amend and update the Privacy Act 1988 (the Act). The focus of the proposed amendments is to introduce tougher penalties for breaches of the Act, particularly by big social media sites. As seen in examples such as the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, the …
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Unfair contracts – business to business
Unfair contracts legislation has now been in place for two and a half years. Only a Court can determine whether a contract term is unfair and there have now been a number of cases where contract terms have been voided on the basis that they are unfair. These cases include two successful actions by the …
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Work in sport? Do you know about the Sporting Organisations Award 2010?
If you work in sport in Australia, you are probably covered by the Sporting Organisations Award 2010, unless of course your workplace has an enterprise agreement in place or you fall into a narrow number of exemptions. The exemptions are generally for senior management, state government employees and those in the racing industry. For the …
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Winding up a charity
Before a charity is wound up there are several compliance activities that must occur with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC), including lodging the most recent Annual Information Statement. Once this is done, charities are required to submit the relevant form requesting that the Commissioner revoke registration. If the request is approved, it takes …
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More on force majeure clauses
Many businesses will routinely enter into a contract which contains a “force majeure” clause. However, many may not know that the purpose of a force majeure clause is to allow a party who is prevented from performing a contract by a ‘force majeure event’, which is a circumstance that is beyond the control of the …
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Restraint of Trade
Restraints of trade are routinely included in employment contracts (and often independent contractor agreements) to protect an employer’s trade secrets, confidential information, customer connections and staff connections by restricting an employee’s activities after they have left employment. Restraint of trade clauses will be enforceable to the extent that the restraint is reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate business …
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Electoral spending
Changes to the Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) now require charities that spend money to influence voters in a federal election to register and report expenditure to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Depending on the level of expenditure, a charity may be subject to disclosure requirements as: a political campaigner; or a third party. Political campaigner …
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Foreign Influence Registration Scheme
The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme commenced on 10 December 2018 with the enactment of the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 (Cth). As stated in its name, the aim of the Scheme is transparency – providing the public and government decision makers with transparency around who and which foreign entities may be seeking to influence …
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Employees and medical certificates – case update
When it comes to employee sick leave, we are regularly asked the following two questions: When can an employer compel an employee to obtain a medical certificate or a more detailed medical certificate? What are the considerations for an employer when an injured employee is certified unfit to return to their pre-injury position? Two cases …
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