The Neighbourhood Disputes Resolution Bill 2010 was introduced to Parliament in November 2010. A proposed new law to solve neighbourhood disputes about trees and fences will provide clear and practical ways to resolve neighbourhood disputes informally. If disputes cannot be informally resolved, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) will be able to deal with...
Promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Queensland Forensic Disability Bill 2011 was introduced into Queensland Parliament on 7 April 2011 to provide a framework to support Queensland’s Forensic Disability Service. This service is a purpose built therapeutic environment for people with an intellectual or cognitive disability (and no...
Queensland will be the first state to adopt the new Work Health and Safety Act 2011 on Monday 6 July with other States and Territories soon to follow. The new Act is a result of a three-year national reform and will replace the Workplace Health & Safety Act 1995. In July 2008, the Council...
The Queensland Government has introduced new pool safety laws that that amend the Building Act 1975 (Qld). The laws affect both new and existing pools and have significant impact on sellers, buyers, landlords, tenants and real estate agents. All pools must comply with the new pool safety rules by 30 November 2015 (or...
The new Body Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (Qld) (BCCM) was given Royal Assent on 14 April 2011. This legislation changes the way body corporate fees are proportioned between lot owners and can be amended. New disclosure obligations for sellers Sellers will now need to provide additional disclosure when...
High infrastructure charges that stall new projects, cost jobs and push up the price of housing in Queensland are now a thing of the past following the passing of the Sustainable Planning (Housing Affordability and Infrastructure Charges Reform) Amendment Bill on 25 May 2011. The Bill aims to establish, through State planning regulations, a...
In a landmark decision handed down in the Federal Court, Justice Gordon held that Telstra had failed to establish that copyright subsists in the contents of the Yellow Pages and White Pages telephone directories. Telstra and Sensis had alleged the publishers of ‘Local Directories’, which had been distributed in Queensland, Northern Territory and New South...
A recent study found less than 20 percent of Australians know their legal rights when they buy goods or services. The study, by the National Education and Investigation Advisory Taskforce, also found that consumers are spending, on average, almost six hours trying to resolve problems with purchased goods and services. Many businesses are also unsure...
The Office of Fair Trading has warned consumers to beware of discrepancies between what they are promised by salespeople and what is stipulated in the contract. A story was reported by a man who decided to buy a second-hand car at a dealership and was told by the salesman that a new car stereo would...
A landmark decision may have potentially absolved Internet Service Providers of any responsibility to stop illegal file-sharing amongst their users, but media companies are still looking for a solution. Perth-based Internet service provider (ISP) iiNet, the third largest ISP in Australia, has defended proceedings brought against it by 34 media companies, including Village Roadshow, Universal...
