Recently the High Court of Australia (Court) held that parties may validly contract out of statutory limitation periods. This decision will likely have broad application and impact on clauses in …
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In this article, we will: provide a quick refresher on how and when transfer duty and call option assignment duty is assessed under the Duties Act 1997 (NSW) (Duties Act); …
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On 22 September 2021, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Victoria. Undoubtedly, this led many construction managers in Melbourne to review their contracts to assess who bears the risk for any …
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Commercial parties tend to operate in fluid and fast paced environments. Frequently formal contracts are entered into or amended late or possibly not at all. Time constrains, cost constraints or …
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Erin Lynch, Employment Partner at Vincent Young Lawyers recently presented a webinar on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Erin, covered the following topics: The definition of sexual harassment. Statistics. Key …
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Discrimination takes many forms. When we think about “age discrimination”, discrimination against “older” workers is generally the first thing that comes to our mind. However, the reality is that young …
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Effective from 1 March 2021, the operation of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) has been expanded due to an amendment made to the Building …
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With the current lockdown forcing many offices to close, we have seen an increase in the number of queries from clients regarding the remote execution of documents. This article provides …
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In NSW, a development may or may not require consent, depending on the conditions in an environmental planning instrument. Developments which do not require consents are usually very low impact …
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Erin Lynch, Employment Partner at Vincent Young Lawyers recently presented a webinar on Employees and Independent Contractors. Erin, covered the following topics: What’s the difference between an employee and contractor? …
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What is a caveat? A caveat is a form of warning with respect to land. A caveat alerts others that the person who lodged the caveat (caveator) has an unregistered …
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Background The most common method by which a company may execute a document is that prescribed by s127 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act). By doing so, parties …
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Most businesses and many individuals will be asked to either give a security interest over their personal property or will want to benefit from a security interest over another’s personal …
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Join Erin Lynch as she discusses how to manage employees’ performance and, if appropriate, termination of employment. Erin will be addressing the following topics: performance management vs performance reviews; performance …
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A recent decision of the New South Wales Supreme Court in The Owners – Strata Plan No 85561 v Omaya Holdings Pty Ltd [2021] NSWSC 918 (Omaya) examined and enforced a …
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The High Court of Australia (HCA) has determined in the case of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2021] HCA 23, that a long-term employee Mr Rossato was a casual employee. …
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On 1 July 2021, the following sections of the Act commenced operation: Part 2; Division 1 of Part 3; Parts 5 to 9; and Clauses 2 to 4 of Schedule …
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If you supply goods under retention of title arrangements, you need to know about the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA). Registering your interest in goods supplied under retention …
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Interior Designers and Registration “Interior Architects” who make designs concerning Building Work would need to be registered as an Architect or Building Designer (Low/Mid-rise) to make compliance declarations. Building …
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On 8 June 2021, the NSW Parliament passed the Building Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (Amending Act) which made several key amendments to the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) …
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In a case involving Mondelez (Company), the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found that an employee who was engaged in eight maximum term contracts over two and half years, was …
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A recent decision of the New South Wales Supreme Court in CPB Contractors Pty Ltd v DEAL S.R.L. [2021] NSWSC 820 confirmed the pro-arbitration approach of the Supreme Court and …
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Last week, it was decided in the National Cabinet that residential workers in the aged care sector will be mandated to get the COVID-19 vaccine to remain employed. The Federal …
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The Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill 2021 (Cth) (Bill) was introduced into the Senate last week. The intent of the legislation is to amend the …
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A Full Federal Court has found, in a case involving a construction company and the CEPU, that the “ordinary and customary turnover” exception to redundancy pay in section 119 of …
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Yesterday, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its decision as part of its annual wage review announcing an increase of 2.5% to the national minimum wage and the minimum …
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Join, Erin Lynch, where she will discuss the hot topics for the next 12 months in the workplace. Erin will address the following topics: Changes to minimum wages; Employees and …
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The Applicant, Ms Ajax, made an application to the Fair Work Commission (Commission) for an unfair dismissal remedy. Prior to being dismissed on 1 July 2020, she worked on a full-time …
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Recap The Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (‘DBP Act’) assented on 10 June 2020 created a statutory duty of care on residential builders to owners of land and each …
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Erin Lynch, Vincent Young Employment Partner, recently presented a webinar where she discussed the legislative changes to casual employees and the impact on organisations. Erin addressed the following topics: who …
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With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout starting in Australia, organisations are considering whether or not they are able to mandate that their employees get vaccinated. The answer…it depends (noting that there …
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Yesterday, the amended Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021 (the “Bill”) passed Parliament, after the House of Representatives accepted the Senate’s amendments. The Bill, as …
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On 1 March 2021, Schedule 2[2] of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulation 2020 (NSW) (Regulations) came into force. As a result, owner occupier construction contracts entered …
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The Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendment Act 2020 (Act) received royal assent on 3 September 2020. We have set out the key changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) …
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The High Court has determined that, for the purposes of paid personal/carer’s leave, a “day” means a “notional day”, consisting of 1/10th of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in …
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The answer – because the employer “overplayed its hand”. Allan Jones (no, not that one) was issued a JobKeeper enabling direction by his employer, Live Events Australia Pty Ltd (Live …
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Modified JobKeeper payment The JobKeeper payment, which was originally due to expire on 27 September 2020, will now continue until 28 March 2021. From 28 September 2020, the payment …
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On 29 May 2020, the New South Wales Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) handed down its decision in C&V Engineering Pty Ltd v Hamilton & Marino Builders Pty Ltd …
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The NSW Government is proposing to repeal the current 2008 regulations to the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) replacing them with a new set of …
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The Vincent Young Employment + Workplace Relations team has updated its Employment + Workplace Relations Guide to reflect the changes for this financial year. Download your copy below. …
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Introduction The Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 (NSW) (Act) was assented to on 10 June 2020 and will commence on 1 September 2020. The Act applies …
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Each year the Annual Wage Review is undertaken by an Expert Panel of the Fair Work Commission (Panel). National Minimum Wage This year, the Panel has determined to increase the …
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The Building and Design Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) (Act) has commenced. The Act is part of the wider suite of reforms the NSW Government is introducing following recommendations made in the 2018 …
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A recent decision by the Full Federal Court has found that an employee who was employed by a labour hire business as a casual and paid as a casual, was …
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Since supporting statements were introduced into the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 NSW (Act) a question has been whether a payment claim served without one (or …
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Today, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ruled that it has jurisdiction to deal with a dispute about an employer’s practices in respect of the wage condition and minimum payment …
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Two recent Fair Work Commission (FWC) decisions provide guidance to employers about the approach to varying redundancy pay during the time of COVID-19. The key takeaways are: the FWC may …
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As restrictions around our mobility start to ease, we will likely see more and more employees return to the workplace. At the same time, the Federal Government is encouraging us …
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On 28 April 2020, in a bid by the NSW Government to stimulate and lift the economy out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it announced the first tranche of construction projects …
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Vincent Young has compiled a list of FAQs to help employers understand the JobKeeper scheme. If you would like to discuss this further and the implications for your …
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Vincent Young has compiled a list of FAQs to help employers who qualify for the JobKeeper scheme. NOTE: The ability to provide these directions and reach these agreements comes from …
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Two Ministerial Orders have been released in relation to the operation of construction sites under the Environmental Planning and Assessment (COVID-19 Development – Construction Work Days) Order 2020 and the …
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The recent decision of the Queensland Supreme Court in Galaxy Developments Pty Ltd v Civil Contractors (Aust) Pty Ltd t/a CCA Winslow & Ors [2020] QSC 51 (Galaxy Developments) examined …
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Temporary changes to Australia’s foreign investment review framework were effective as at 10.30pm, by legal time in the ACT, on 29 March 2020 (Effective Time). The changes were made in …
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The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus (Measures No. 2) Act 2020 (Cth) provides for temporary amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to assist those employers who are eligible …
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The National Cabinet agreed to implement a mandatory Code of Conduct on commercial leasing (Code), details of which were revealed on 7 April 2020. The Code imposes a list of …
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With things changing so rapidly, you may have missed some recent temporary amendments to legislation and modern awards that have been introduced to provide greater flexibility to employers (and employees) …
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The COVID-19 Legislation Amendment (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 (NSW) (‘COVID Act‘) was assented to and became effective as at 25 March 2020. The COVID Act was introduced by the NSW Parliament …
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The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) (Act) has come into force. The Act, among other things, makes temporary amendments to the Australian insolvency and corporations laws in light …
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The employment law team has been assisting clients in traversing the issues that every employer will likely encounter following the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and has developed a quick …
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Changes to the industrial relations system are looming, with the Prime Minister asking the Attorney-General in his capacity as Minister for Industrial Relations to look at the system and the …
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A 64 year old employee with six years’ service has been awarded reinstatement by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The FWC determined that there was no valid reason for dismissal …
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In this Full Bench decision, it was found that the Commission lacked the necessary power to redact the wages rates in the published version of an enterprise agreement. This is …
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The Full Federal Court has handed down an important decision about personal/carer’s leave entitlements under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act). This decision is now the authority for how …
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This recent Federal Circuit Court decision reminds us of the need for employers to ensure that redundancies are implemented on the basis of genuine operational reasons. A decision to terminate …
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The recent headlines involving celebrity chef George Calombaris and the MADE Group of Restaurants serves as a warning to employers about workplace compliance and the consequences of getting it wrong. …
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The Conveyancing (Legislation) Amendment Act 2018 (Act) was passed by Parliament on 13 November 2018. It deals with aspects of electronic land transactions and off-the-plan sale contracts for residential property. …
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The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has once again confirmed that parties cannot alter the true nature of a relationship by putting a different label on it. “It would be hard …
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The NSW Government has proclaimed 21 October 2019 as the day on which the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Act 2018 No 78 will commence, introducing the …
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National Minimum Wage Each financial year, the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) Expert Panel for wage reviews undertakes it annual wage review and subsequently publishes its decision. This financial year, the …
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In the wake of two well-publicised damaged apartment blocks, the NSW Government has released an update on their plan for legal reform within the building and construction landscape. In short, …
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TALKING POINTS: Contractor’s risk of insolvency Implications on adjudication determination under the Security of Payment Act NSW (SOP Act) Illegal phoenix activity Greenwood Futures v DSD Builders (No 2) …
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On Appeal (3 August 2018), it was found that builders and persons that are considered to be developers can be equally held liable for defects, under the New South …
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On 12 September 2017, reforms to Australia’s corporate insolvency were passed by both Houses of the Australian Federal Parliament, which includes:[1] a) a safe harbour for company directors from …
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Sunset clauses are common in off the plan contracts or other contracts where the vendor has obligations to satisfy conditions precedent to complete (Contract). Off the plan contract means a …
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Can a respondent not pay an adjudication determination because the claimant is acting as if it were broke? An adjudication has been made against a respondent. The builder or subcontractor …
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The Strata Building Bond Scheme, which was introduced by the Strata Management Act 2015 (the Act), provides that in situations where the Act applies (See New strata law and building …
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Introduction It is common for a contractor to provide an indemnity and/or a guarantee to a principal under a construction contract. However, contractors must know that the two are fundamentally …
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In All Seasons Air Pty Ltd v Regal Consulting Services Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 289, the Court of Appeal held that a payment claim served before a reference date will …
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A bill has recently passed through both Houses of the NSW Parliament entitled the State Revenue Legislation Amendment (Surcharge) Bill 2017 (NSW) (Bill) which targets Australian-based developers that are foreign …
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Following the Lacrosse Apartments fire in Melbourne, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) began to develop a comprehensive package of fire safety measures for high rise buildings which was …
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The Federal Government has reduced the threshold at which a vendor is required to provide a Foreign Resident Capital Gains Clearance Certificate (FRCGCC) to purchasers of real property. The new …
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The Electronic Transactions Legislation Amendment (Government Transactions) Act 2017 (Act) passed into law in the last week of June 2017. It amended a number of Acts including the Strata Management …
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The commencement of the strata building bond regime has been deferred from 1 July 2017 to 1 January 2018. This means that the regime will not apply if the construction …
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In February of this year, the Society of Construction Law (“SOCL”) published the 2nd Edition of the Delay and Disruption Protocol (“the Protocol”) – the first update to the …
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The NSW Budget Statement (released on 20 June 2017) has provided further details on how the increased stamp duty and land tax surcharges will affect foreign owned developers. To recap, …
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In the 2017-2018 Federal Budget the Government announced several changes aimed at reducing pressure on housing affordability, some of which affect foreign ownership of Australian residential property. The biggest change …
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On 5 April 2017, the New South Wales Government signed and sealed a Commencement Proclamation which will bring into effect the Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Act 2017 (NSW) (Act) on …
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In The Trustee for the Whitby Trust v Commissioner of taxation [2017] AATA 343 (20 March 2017), the AAT has held that an option fee paid by a developer …
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These statistics on Building from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published in February 2017 show some very interesting trends. The salient figures worth noting is that, at the time …
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The first question clients ask when obtaining a favourable judgment is “how will we enforce this judgment against the debtor?”. The quickest and most effective way to enforce a judgment …
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Introduction During the process of obtaining payment under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (SOP Act), a Contractor (or Subcontractor) may, after obtaining an adjudication …
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In our June 2016 issue of Construction, Property & Projects Insights (Issue 4), we discussed the first instance decision of Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd …
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Legal Issue A recent decision in the Victorian Supreme Court examined whether the Plaintiffs, Tan and Lo, validly exercised their cooling off rights to terminate a contract for sale in …
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Introduction In our November 2016 Construction, Property & Projects Insights (Issue 5), we noted that the High Court was soon to release judgment in Southern Han Breakfast Point Pty Ltd …
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The Federal Government has announced its intention to pass legislation under the foreign investment framework to allow foreign buyers to purchase an off-the-plan dwelling when another foreign buyer has failed …
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The position regarding Building Energy Efficiency Certificates (BEEC) in Australia is in a transition phase as a result of changes to the Commercial Building Disclosure Program (CBDP), which exists under …
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In this issue, we look at the following key developments in construction, property & projects law: Security of Payments Goes to the High Court Unfair Contract Terms in the Construction …
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On 8 November 2016, the NSW government introduced the Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016 (Bill), which seeks to amend the Retail Leases Act 1994 (Act). The Bill provides further …
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On Friday 14th October 2016, Vincent Young hosted its Annual Luncheon at Est. Our Annual Luncheon is an opportunity for us to thank our existing clients as well as get to …
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Part 10 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (Act) prescribes a process for strata renewal. Part 10 commenced on 30 November 2016. The Part 10 process enables the owners …
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Crown Melbourne Ltd v Cosmopolitan Hotel (Vic) Pty Ltd [2016] HCA 26 This Victorian case illustrates the problem with talking loosely during negotiations. The case worked its way from the …
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Unfair Contract Terms in the Construction Industry – You Need to Take Action In November 2016 new legislative changes will see negotiating power swing away from larger businesses towards small …
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What is the Building Bond Scheme? The building bond scheme is a regime whereby developers of residential strata schemes have to: lodge a bond with the Department of Finance, Services …
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In this issue, we look at the following key developments in construction, property & projects law: Contractual Clauses Limiting the Accrual of Reference Dates or a Right to a Progress …
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The following article was published in The Australian Financial Review on 12 February 2015 by Michael Bleby. The principal of Vincent Young, Brett Vincent, offered his insight into the trends of …
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Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v Owners Corporation Strata Plan 61288 [2014] HCA 36 The High Court of Australia has unanimously held that Brookfield Multiplex Ltd (Brookfield) did not owe a duty …
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If you are in management or control of a workplace, then you must keep an asbestos register – a document that lists all identified or assumed asbestos in a workplace. …
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Please be advised that on 27 August 2014 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a Product Safety Recall of all, INFINITY & OLSENT branded Infinity TPS (flat and …
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The Personal Properties and Securities Act (2009) (Cth) (PPSA) is a law about security-interests which applies to all personal-property Australia wide.[1] The PPSA has created a national register over security …
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On 30 October 2013 the New South Wales Legislative Assembly passed the first of a number of proposed amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 …
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A contract is like a lawn mower. Each has about 50 operable parts, some are dangerous, others fuel the engine and others clean up and catch the grass. Welcome to …
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Welcome to your second lesson on the contracting essentials for lawn mower mechanics. This second article will discuss the ‘throttle and fuel’ of the contract. These clauses keep the machine …
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Welcome to your third lesson on the contracting essentials for lawn mower mechanics. This third article will discuss the ‘cleaning up’ of the contract. These clauses keep the ground tidy …
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Limitations on claims for breach of Statutory Warranties under the Home Building Act Contractors who undertake residential building work now carry the risk of multiple claims for defects for a …
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