News
New Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets
On 1 July 2023 a new Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets will come into effect. Its purpose is to record foreign interests in a broad range of Australian assets, to support compliance with Australian foreign investment laws and to increase visibility of...
Update on Statutory Duty of Care for Defective Construction Work
Following some well publicised cases of major defects in fairly new high-rise residential apartment buildings in Sydney, the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) came into effect. It provided that any person who carries out "construction work" (including...
A Legal Victory for the Keeping of Pets in Retirement Villages
Last year I was approached by a resident of a local retirement village about the management's refusal of his request to allow him to keep two budgerigars in a cage in his unit for some company. This was on the basis that a Village Rule prohibited the keeping of pets....
Substantial New Penalties and Reforms to Unfair Contract Terms Laws
For some time now under the Australian Consumer Law, where a term of a standard form consumer contract (i.e. one where an individual is acquiring a financial product or service under the contract wholly or predominantly for personal, domestic or household use or...
New Optional Property Tax to Replace Stamp Duty
If you are a first home buyer then you should be made aware of a recent announcement by the NSW State Goverment which will apply to properties purchased up to $1.5m from 16 January 2023. As from that date, qualifying purchasers will be able to opt into a scheme to pay...