In today’s modern age of smartphones, smartwatches and other electronic devices, recording audio and video in real-time is ever easier. The cost of installing recording devices in the home and business premises has also gone down. Given the prominence of such devices in our daily lives, questions about privacy and limitation of their use comes into question. For example, can we record private conversations? Can we use them as evidence in a dispute?

Matters involving relocation are often considered some of the toughest family law disputes for the parties and for judges to decide. The outcome of these cases usually means there is a clear “winner” and “loser.” The process can be lengthy, expensive and carry a significant emotional toll for everyone.

Generally, a de facto relationship boils down to you and your partner having a relationship, living as a couple for two years but not being married. However, when a de facto relationship ends has always been somewhat unclear.

Since 2018 the National Employment Standards (“NES”) have made a provision for 5 days unpaid domestic violence leave as a minimum entitlement for all federal system employees, which is most people.

Domestic violence leave allows employees to take leave if they need to deal with family violence and/or domestic violence and it is not practical for them to do so outside of their ordinary hours of work. The employee could take the leave to go to court, communicate with the police or take steps to ensure their safety or the safety of their family.

A large proportion of family law matters deal with children after the breakdown of a relationship. This leads many parents to ask: ‘What are my rights are as a parent?’

What is a Power of Attorney?

There are two main types of power of attorney:

• a general power of attorney ends when you lose the capacity to make your own decisions

• an enduring power of attorney continues even after you lose the capacity to make your own decisions.

A brief run down of what we will be covering in each seminar.

Underpayment is an ongoing and increasingly commonplace issue in Australia.

That having been said, in Australia there is a complex set of employment law legislation on a Commonwealth level, with some variance from State to State as well as over 100 employment awards. In addition to the assorted employment awards, employees may be covered by an enterprise agreement or another form of registered agreement, in which case the Awards don’t apply. However, this complex web of legislative obligations, agreements and awards can be difficult to navigate and not all instances of underpayment are intentional. Unfortunately for Australian employers, this opaqueness does not absolve them from understanding their obligations.

One of the most immediate issues to deal with, particularly after a sudden or acrimonious split, is who’s going to be packing their bags and finding a rental. This is a short-term issue, completely separate to the question of who will actually retain ownership of the family home – the question is only who lives where while the parties are dividing up their property.

Generally, the rule in Family Law proceedings is that each party to the proceedings shall bear their own costs. However, the Court can depart from this rule and order that one party pay some (or even all) of the other party’s legal costs, if the circumstances justify it.

This is how many victims describe their existence and relationships under coercive control. A ‘strategic pattern of entrapment’ undermining self determination. Understanding coercive control is key to responding to common questions people ask about domestic violence like “why didn’t she just leave?"

Are your employees time frauds?

Family violence is a crisis in Australia. Often, women experiencing domestic violence and coercive control are vulnerable around the time of separation and divorce. 1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner. Unfortunately, this can happen in the presence of children, with 61% of women having children in their care when this violence occurs.

To help you understand Stand Downs & Forced Leave, I’ve pulled together this guide to help you with some of the key questions you may have on this topic.

Did you know that up to 97% of court matters are resolved through a mediated settlement? So why not avoid the litigation process and mediate?

Whilst the health and safety of all those around us is the most important consideration during these uncertain times, many of you may also be experiencing worry over your employment status, or your responsibilities as an employer, and where you stand legally on this.

Last week I was thrilled to be invited as a guest on to the Janeen Vosper podcast, where I had the opportunity to talk about my passion for helping people find their voice.

A stable economic system can be measured by how well a country protects and manages its real property. As we’ve progressed over the past couple of decades to a knowledge-based economy the need to manage property rights has not changed but the tangibility of the property has. We live in a world driven by ideas and innovation and realising this value in commercialising intellectual property (IP) is something small to medium sized businesses are beginning to understand.