General

01 Aug

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Bev Clark (Adelaide Family Lawyer) Many people assume that going to Court is a good option for settling a dispute. They assume justice will be served if they go to Court. Most people know that Court is very expensive and can take a long time. What they might not realise, however, is that once Court proceedings commence, they can’t get out of that process unless either they reach an agreement with the other side, or a Judge makes a decision. Whilst they are in the Court process, there are many hearings and requirements that parties must attend to that are costly, and that parties may wish they didn’t need to fund -but they have no control over that. I find that many clients who are stuck in litigation feel powerless and most would love the process to end – or to never have begun – but that is not in their power to achieve unless they accept a completely untenable outcome if the other party is particularly difficult to deal with. There are other processes for dispute resolution besides Court. My advice is to only use Court as a last resort and, if at all possible, work in a less invasive, less expensive model of...

01 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth eugene@bc-lawyers.com.au From 1 July 2016, there is new country of origin labelling requirements for most food sold in Australia. These are set out in the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 made under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Businesses have two years to adopt the new labels before they become mandatory on 1 July 2018. Consumers have been confused about the country of origin food labelling for a long time. They have been calling for changes to simplify origin claims on foods and to make them clearer, more meaningful and easier to find. Businesses, though recognising the value of country of origin labelling, have often struggled to understand labelling requirements or to meet consumer expectations. It would appear likely that Suppliers who are prepared to adopt the Standard’s requirements before the 1 July 2018 deadline will be rewarded by Consumers’ custom. The Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 regulates the type and amount of information that businesses will have to provide to consumers about the food they buy. It will apply to most food offered for retail sale in Australia, including that sold in stores or markets, online or from a vending machine. The law does not apply to food sold in places like restaurants, cafes, takeaway shops, schools, or to...

01 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth With the rise in property prices, one of the approaches for a person to enter the property market is to turn to family and friends to help buy a home or investment property jointly. There are obvious advantages – such as being able to buy into a desirable location or to get a better quality property than would otherwise be possible individually. As the acquisition and ongoing costs such as rates and taxes are split, each co-owner’s proportion is more affordable. To be successful, it is essential that the co-owners be compatible. That helps harmonious decision making with less downtime with arguments. Additionally, a co-ownership agreement prepared by a lawyer will go a long way to dealing with predictable and unforeseen events. Who is to pay what and when? What if one wishes to leave? What if there is no consensus as to a particular matter? These issues can be dealt with in a formal agreement at the beginning, rather than when an event is upon the participants. Charlie Belperio or Eugene Reinboth from our property team would be pleased to assist you in such matters and are available on (08) 8212 1322 during office hours....

01 Jun

Posted at 00:00h in General

Written by Eugene Reinboth  The Press has recently referred to yet another well-known Australian who has had family members make a claim on his estate. Richie Benaud’s estate had claims made by his former wife Marcia and his eldest son Gregory. It is reported that Mr Benaud married Marcia in 1953 and divorced her in 1967 (almost 50 years ago). He married Daphne that year. Mr Benaud died in April 2015 and was survived by Daphne, Marcia, Gregory and another son Jeffery. The litigation settled very recently in the New South Wales Supreme Court with Marcia apparently indicating that she was “very happy, thank you, dear”. Gregory is also reported as being pleased with the result. Justice Hallen praised the parties for reaching an agreement. There is similar legislation in all States as that which permitted the claim to be made in New South Wales. Here in South Australia, a spouse, former spouse, children, and grandchildren, amongst others, can all make claims. Persons making their wills and potential claimants will, therefore, benefit from discussing these issues with lawyers practising in the area, such as our team of Charlie Belperio, Eugene Reinboth and Roy Hasda who can be contacted on (08) 8212 1322....

01 Feb

Posted at 00:00h in General

A recent article in the Australian Newspaper brought to our attention the unfortunate widespread issue of bullying. It is difficult enough when this occurs amongst adults in the workplace and elsewhere. We have been asked to assist in relation to bullying issues. Some useful resources to assist children being affected by bullying were referred to in the recent article in the Australian and they included bullyingnoway.gov.au, safety.gov.au and kidshelpline.com.au 1800 551 800. Non-lawyer based resources hopefully may help and should be explored wherever possible....

01 Feb

Posted at 00:00h in General

We are excited to announce that we are moving to newly renovated premises at the end of March 2016! Our new address will be 94 STURT St, ADELAIDE SA 5000 Our email and phone number remainthe same. We are not going too far, just a few blocks WEST.  Still very accessible by Tram and the Free Circle Bus 99 stops in front of us. We will announce in this Blog and on Facebook when we have moved as the exact date is still in the hands of the Renovators...

01 Oct

Posted at 00:00h in General

Case review: Stack & Searle [2015] FCWA 44 In the recent decision of Stack & Searle, the Family Court of Western Australia considered the important issue of whether a parent’s past behaviour exposes a child to an unacceptable level of risk. In March 2008, Mr Stack was arrested and charged with one count of indecent dealing with a child who was a lineal relative, four counts of possession of child pornography and one count of supplying child pornography. In October 2009, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Mr Stack was ultimately released from prison in July 2012. Two years later, in June 2014, Mr Stack was charged with one count of sexual penetration of a child under 13 years and one further count of indecent dealing with a child under 13 years in respect of incidents that were alleged to have occurred in 2006. Mr Stack and Mrs Searle had two daughters aged 14 and 12. Mr Stack applied to the Family Court for orders allowing him to spend supervised time with the children each fortnight, and to communicate with them by telephone and in writing. Mr Stack argued that he had always played an active role in the children’s lives but...

01 Aug

Posted at 00:00h in General

From Workplace Bulletin 27 July 2015 The misclassification of employees as contractors has become a hot topic lately both in the media and in Courts. Businesses hire people to carry out work every day, from secretaries to cleaners to IT professionals – and their legal status will vary. What are the essential criteria? A ‘sham’ independent contractor arrangement is made when one or both parties know, or ought to reasonably know, that it is not a true independent contractor arrangement. You can be liable under the Fair Work Act for civil penalties if you are unsure of the distinctions. Businesses need to be aware of some of the key indicators that the Fair Work Ombudsman and the courts would expect including: The level of control over the working relationship; Tax arrangements; and How the worker is paid. Note that no single indicator will clearly determine a worker’s status. Employers (and employees!) can attempt to arrange their taxes to unlawfully claim an independent contractor relationship. As always, if employers are unsure, they should seek legal advice. For more information on whether you have employees or contractors in the workplace contact Roy Hasda at Belperio Clark on 8212 1322 or email roy@bc-lawyers.com.au...

01 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in General

From Workplace Bulletin 15 June 2015 Every 4 years, the 120 modern awards that cover Australian employees are reviewed under the Fair Work Act by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). Las week changes were announced to annual leave. They include: Changes to how annual leave can be cashed out; Likely changes to when employers can direct employees to take leave; Likely changes to when annual leave can be granted in advance, and; Provision for annual leave to be paid as part of the employee’s ordinary pay cycle if they are paid by electronic funds transfer. What’s changing with cashing-out annual leave? The Commission has agreed to include a general term in modern awards that will let employees cash-out a maximum of two weeks leave per every 12 months. What’s changing with excessive accrued leave? Subject to submissions from interested parties the FWC has developed a new model clause that defines an “excessive leave accrual” as 8 weeks for non-shift workers and 10 weeks for shift workers. If an employer and employee can’t agree on how and when leave will be taken, the clause gives an employer the power to direct an employee to take a period or periods of annual leave. What’s changing with taking leave in advance? The FWC accepted a...

01 Jul

Posted at 00:00h in General

We are still hearing about cases where people are consulting lawyers rather than Notaries for documentation required in an international arena. Some lawyers are unaware of the Notary requirements to the detriment of their clients. Are you involved in an inheritance from a foreign country? Do you want your academic/trade qualifications recognised overseas? Do you want to marry overseas? For all these areas the chances are you will need a Notary Public NOT a lawyer. There are three significant differences between notaries and other lawyers: a) a Notary’s duty is to the transaction as a whole, and not just to one of the parties. A Notary may act for both parties to a transaction provided there is no conflict between them, and if so it's their duty is to ensure that the transaction that they conclude is fair to both sides. b) a Notary will often need to do a Notarial Certificate for a document in order to make it valid for use overseas. Often it may also be necessary to obtain either an “authentication” or an “Apostille” (depending on the relevant foreign country) from DFAT. c) a Notary identifies themselves on documents by their individual seal. Such seals have historical origins and are regarded...

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