Never miss another article.
Subscribe to our mailing list today.

Worth Knowing

For “oppressive” strata by-laws in NSW, it’s now game, pet, and match

The proposition that what matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, was exemplified in the NSW Court of Appeal this week.  In one corner was a miniature schnauzer named Angus (no relation); in the other, the owners corporation of the 43-story, 341-lot

Read more
October 14
2020
Litigation and dispute resolution Property Law

Trade mark claims in industrial disputes? Not Really Maintainable, Actually

You might be surprised to learn that an organisation with the word “Roads” in its name would find itself in dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) (which is now a branch of the CFMMEU).  However, it’s a long road which has no turning, and as the National Roads and Motorists Association Ltd (NRMA)

Read more
October 7
2019
Employment Law Intellectual property law

The very surprising winner in Australia’s first $1m+ sexual harassment verdict

This story is about a dentist (so we can’t show you his face on television, if anyone is thinking of buying the television rights to this article).  The dentist was alleged to have engaged in sexual harassment, and dismissed from the practice in which he was working. Subsequently, he he was sued, and ordered by the

Read more
October 13
2018
Commercial Law Employment Law

Three things in this life are certain – death, taxes and fights over legal privilege

“ATO targets legal privilege”, cries the front page of today’s Australian Financial Review,  neatly bringing together the second and the third of life’s certainties (the first certainty being one with which we try not to concern ourselves unduly here at Worth Knowing). The article quotes ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan as having said in March that “[the

Read more
October 9
2018
Commercial Law Litigation and dispute resolution

Vicarious liability in Australia – fit for purpose, or fit for “akin”?

When legal liability is imposed upon one person for the misdeeds of another, even though the first person is themselves blameless, this liability is described as “vicarious liability”.  In Australia, vicarious liability arises most often when an employer is held to be liable for the torts of an employee.  Australian law has developed two “central conceptions” in relation to such

Read more
October 1
2018
Employment Law Litigation and dispute resolution

Into the bin! Federal Court trashes unfair contract terms in waste collection contracts

In what must rank as one of the speedier capitulations to a regulator in recent Australian legal history, the ACCC has today announced that waste management company JJ Richards & Sons Pty Ltd has consented to court orders by which JJ Richards agreed that no fewer than 8 terms of the standard form contract used

Read more
October 19
2017
Competition and consumer law

Secret recording contract

The secret recording has long been the staple of cop shows and gangster movies. The tension builds as the informant is “wired up” – will the wire be discovered? Will the criminals spill the beans about their dastardly plans? And most importantly, will it all happen before I’ve finished this popcorn? Secret recordings raise different

Read more
October 12
2017
Employment Law