Legislative amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 came into effect last month, and with a focus on changing the ‘negative credit reporting’ system previously implemented in 1991, the legislative amendments have introduced what is known as ‘comprehensive credit reporting’. Prior to the amendments, a copy of your credit report would have shown a list of...
It is quite common for spouses to enter into what is known as a ‘mirror will’, which essentially provides that their estate will go to each other when they die, and when the remaining spouse passes away, it will go to their children. However, what many people don’t realise is if they do not put...
In a recent Federal Court case, an employee brought an action for discrimination and sexual harassment against a contractor (who was engaged by her employer and allegedly sexually harassed her), the contractor’s employer and her own employer. When discussing the matter, the Court found that even though the contractor and the applicant were not ‘fellow...
Do you need to lodge a Caveat? It is important to understand that when you separate, whether you were married or in a de facto relationship, if there is ‘real property’ involved, such as the marital home or an investment property, then you may need to act quickly to protect your interests in that property if...
As a consumer, you are covered by a range of basic guarantees when you acquire or purchase goods or services from suppliers, manufacturers or importers within Australia (if they were purchased on or after 1 January 2011). The Australian Consumer Law outlines nine (9) guarantees that apply to goods, including that: they are of acceptable...
Do I really need a Will? If you die without a Will, the law dictates who receives your property in accordance with a pre-determined formula. There is no guarantee that your assets will be distributed in the way you would have preferred and in some circumstances your assets can end up being passed onto the...
Our Gold Coast Lawyers have recently had a large amount of enquiries concerning the rights of employees following dismissal. Our previous publications have discussed employee actions under the Fair Work Act 2009 (‘the Act’), such as unfair dismissal, genuine redundancy and general protections claims, however, there are circumstances where employees cannot bring these actions against...
It is important to remember that families come in many different shapes and sizes, and while Christmas should be a happy time where a family spends quality time with each other, where parents are separated or have recently separated, it could be a time of disappointment, confusion and loneliness. As adults, it is the parent’s...
A Binding Financial Agreement (‘BFA’) can be used by parties to reflect their agreement in respect of the division of property and assets in the event of a future separation. There are strict requirements laid out in the Family Law Act 1975 (‘FLA’) which must be met for the BFA to comply with the Act...
