Selling the family home to pay huge accommodation bonds for residential care places will soon be a thing of the past under the government’s sweeping changes proposed for new consumer credit reform. Older people will now be able to use the equity in their home to fund an aged-care place through a form of federal...
Recent amendments to the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998 now severely restrict smoking displays and advertising at retail outlets. These new laws banning point of sale tobacco displays are aimed at reducing cigarette uptake, particularly among younger Queenslanders. Smoking kills an estimated 3,400 Queenslanders every year and more than 30,450 people are admitted...
Practical Driving Tested Queenslanders are being called on to give feedback and ideas for improving Queensland’s practical driving test, known as Q-SAFE. Q-SAFE is designed to evaluate a person’s ability to drive safely and correctly in different situations, however the driving test has not been reviewed in more than a decade. Recommendations to date included:...
Australia’s Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland recently reported that cybercrime has overtaken the drug trade as the most profitable form of crime in the world. Indeed, authorities worldwide now recognise that law reform and international cooperation will be essential to combat cybercrime and cyber security threats. In June 2011, a new Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011...
Hoons and repeat dangerous drivers will lose their vehicles for seven days – which is up from the current period of two days – for their first offence (type 1 offence) under changes to be made to the State’s vehicle impoundment laws. Those caught for a second time (type 2 offence) will lose their vehicle for...
New recreational boating safety reforms will come into effect from January 2012. The reforms include enhanced night and electronic navigation training incorporated into the existing BoatSafe course, extending the number of coastal bars where personal floatation devices must be worn, additional safety equipment requirements for personal watercraft operating offshore, and higher standards for new large...
The Commission of Inquiry has conducted hearings during the months of September and October which have followed on from the August Commission Enquiry into to 2010/2011 Queensland floods. Its interim report provides 175 recommendations focused on changes to be implemented before the next wet season. More than 660 written public submissions were received and sworn statements...
As many of you would be aware, since 1st August 2011 Queenslanders are no longer able to apply for the ‘principle place of residence’ stamp duty concession after the State Government cancelled the concession for transfer duties. Since 1st August 2011, consumers have had to pay up to 30 percent more in transfer duties, equating to...
The Court has ordered respondents to publish a corrective video on YouTube and other video-streaming websites to counter false and misleading representations. This is the first occurrence of its kind for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The proceedings against Newlife Publishing and Marketing Pty Ltd, Renew You Centre for Wellbeing and Longevity Pty...
The Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 calls for equal contributions to the running costs of a building through lot entitlements unless it is ‘just and equitable’. Effectively, if a unit owner does not believe they are being charged body corporate fees fairly they can apply to the Queensland Commercial and Consumer Tribunal for...
