Blog

A recent case in which we acted for a waste management company demonstrated that even when you think you are doing the right thing, that may not be the case.

The waste management company had processes in place where it reported to the Council when trucks entered a waste site with overweight loads. Our client was at that stage unaware that there was a secondary requirement – VicRoads were to be notified when this occurred pursuant to the Road Safety Act – an oversight which gave rise to potential fines of around $1.6m.

The fate of the controversial 'St Kilda Triangle' was decided last month following a long legal battle. The St Kilda Triangle divided the local community and eventually became a key issue in City of Port Phillip elections earlier this year which resulted in a several councillors losing their seats and the eventual decision by Council to cancel the project. 

Aitken Partners acted for the community action group unChain St Kilda and its then president, Serge Thomann, in several matters relating to the development.

Christmas may be a time for family breakdown, but after separation it is even harder to arrange the day.  Each year the Family Court of Australia puts out a deadline (usually mid-November) after which it cannot guarantee applications for Christmas parenting time will be heard.  The smartest thing to do when planning Christmas is to make arrangements early. 

Recent changes in the Family Law Act enable a defacto partner to successfully claim maintenance from their partner. In Vine & Carey The Court found the parties had lived in a defacto relationship for more than two years and as the relationship had broken down after the new legislation took effect from 1 March 2009 the female partner could claim maintenance from her now estranged former male partner.