Blog

  • What lies beneath

    Sometimes lawyers are asked to step in at the last moment to help purchasers who have not sought proper legal advice before committing to the biggest purchase of their lives.

    One instance that comes to mind was the purchase of a property down the Peninsula. The Vendor’s Statement included a Title Plan. However no-one explained to the Purchasers the significance of the note ‘E-1’ on the Title Plan. E-1 was in fact a sewerage easement 10 feet wide that ran down one side of the property - over which the carport has been built.

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  • They widened the Road

    The purchase of a development site on the fringe of Melbourne suburbia provides another example of a ‘simple, straight forward’ purchase needing the input of an experienced and diligent lawyer to prevent things going horribly wrong.

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  • Evicted from your own 'Home'

    The plight of a Richmond couple reported by the Herald Sun on Sunday May 12 (Council bans couple from living in $1.85m converted Richmond warehouse) highlights the extreme risks that purchasers take if they try to cut corners when buying property. Buying and selling property are not just routine form-filling exercises – things can, and sometimes do – go very wrong.

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  • Harcourt Rural Modernisation Project

    In late March 2013, Coliban Water issued a media release which stated that they had been given final approval to proceed with the Harcourt Rural Modernisation Project. The Project plans to replace the existing channel system with a network of pipes through a high pressurised pipeline in the Harcourt area.

    In fact, Coliban Water issued Notices of Intention to Acquire residents' land in July 2012 and acquired the land in early-January when the Notices of Acquisition were gazetted.

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  • The importance of understanding compulsory acquitions law

    As a leading legal firm in the areas of Compulsory Acquisition, we disagree with Mr Hardwick's assertion (in a recent article in the Dandenong Leader - Anxiety over acquisition) that 'Compensation rights are only triggered once the land is formally reserved under the registration'.

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  • Facing a claim from Mr Tweed’s Direct Share Purchasing Corporation

    We have acted for numerous clients in defending claims brought by notorious share market raider David Tweed through his company Direct Share Purchasing Corporation and have achieved satisfactory outcomes in all instances.

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  • Accessing your super

    Superannuation is a way to help you put aside money for your retirement. To ensure that your super savings are only used for this purpose, there are regulations in place that restrict access to money until you are at least 55 years old.

    BlueSky's guide to Accessing Your Super.

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  • Consumer Law Guarantee Reminder

    It has been a year since suppliers have been required by the Australian Consumer Law to include the following in supplier contracts, yet we still see many such contracts which do not contain it. Do you comply?

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  • Changes to the Fair Work Act

    Some changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) came into effect on 1 January 2013 of which the key ones are: 

    1. The time limit for lodging unfair dismissal applications and general protections dismissal applications will be 21 days for employees. Previously, the time limit for unfair dismissal applications was 14 days and for general protections dismissal applications was 60 days;

    2. The Commission will be given further powers to dismiss unfair dismissal applications and to make cost orders against parties; and

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  • Mum's the word?

    A recent report on Channel Ten's 'The Project' explored the concept of parental equality and the manner in which fathers have historically been cast as the secondary parent. 

    However, it is important to note that this social perception is not necessarily followed by the Family Court when deciding parenting matters.

    After amendments to the Family Law Act in 2006, in parenting cases where there is no risk of child abuse, the Court is required to apply a presumption of equal shared parental responsibility as its starting point. 

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