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I have written many times over the years that documentary evidence can trump witness evidence, especially when a witness gives evidence of what “usually happens” or “would have” happened instead of what actually happened. Employers often say to me “We can’t have a written procedure for every single task in the workshop”. Judges understand that […]

Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD) is an extra amount of duty payable to the Office of State Revenue (OSR) that applies to transactions that are liable for transfer duty, landholder duty or corporate trustee duty. AFAD applies when a company or individual is a foreign person and an acquirer for the purposes of the transaction

On 23 October 2017, industrial manslaughter provisions in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (WHS Act) commenced. The provisions created two new criminal offences of industrial manslaughter for a person conducting a business or undertaking, or a senior officer, to negligently cause the death of a worker. The new provisions are the Queensland

An increasing number of Australian businesses are moving with the global economy and doing business offshore.  For some, that involves seeking a greater presence in the Chinese market. One of the first issues to consider when moving into another market is how your business is to be positioned or promoted, whether it relies on any

The Fair Work Commission last week completed its 2017-18 Annual Wage Review of the national minimum wage and minimum wages in modern awards. Here’s what you need to know to get your affairs in order before the wages increase on 1 July 2018: The current weekly national minimum wage has been increased from $694.90 to

If you are anything like me, you may be a little annoyed about the volume of email you have received over the last few weeks from businesses updating their privacy policies. The reason for the sudden flurry of activity is due to changes to privacy and data collection which have just commenced in Europe and

The long-awaited timeline for implementation of the recent Retirement Villages Act 1999 (Qld) (the RV Act) changes is finally here. This is welcome news, as the uncertainty over timing has been a source of concern for many operators, impacting their operational and strategic decision-making. The Housing Legislation (Building Better Futures) Amendment Act 2017 (Qld) was

In my March 2018 article I wrote about how employers can reduce risk by being aware of “the exception”. There has been much discussion about this and many more examples can be given. A system of work can be generally safe but circumstances may conspire to make a system of work applied in standard circumstances

From 1 July 2018, buyers of new residential properties and subdivisions will be required to withhold and remit GST directly to the ATO in accordance with new legislation that has recently been passed by the Federal Parliament. This regime will have a substantial impact on the cash-flow of developers and introduce a large administrative burden.

“We have got to rediscover our manners” were the very simple words spoken by Kerry O’Keefe recently on the Back Page. O’Keefe is known for his clever wit, but is a keen analyst of the game of Cricket. Is that indeed what needs to and should occur, or do manners have no place in modern