Latest publications
The AHRC and Criminal Record Discrimination: A Toothless Tiger
The recent AHRC report into discrimination in employment on the basis of criminal record, BE v Suncorp Group Ltd [2018] AusHRC 121, has garnered significant media attention and community debate. What it serves to highlight is that the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is a “toothless tiger” when it comes to discrimination…
Salacious facts, important principles
The attention an unfair dismissal case receives is sometimes proportionate to how salacious the underlying facts considered in the case are as opposed to the importance of any legal principles that emerge. Having said that, an interesting factual matrix (which sometimes results in a “tabloid” or “clickbait” treatment of a case)…
What’s in a name?
“I don’t believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.” - LM Montgomery Changing an adult’s name In December 2015, Japan’s Supreme Court upheld a law dating back to the 19th Century that requires married couples to have the same surname. This law is still in…
School Holiday Time
“I have had a holiday, and I’d like to take it up professionally” - Kylie Minogue In 2006, amendments were made to the Family Law Act 1975 that required (amongst other things) the Courts to consider if parents should have equal shared parental responsibility for their children, and if so, whether…
The GST withholding régime starts July 2018 — A look at the transactions to which it will apply
The new GST ‘withholding’ régime for sales of new residential properties and vacant residential lots will apply from 1 July 2018 onwards. WHY The changes are an anti-avoidance measure to prevent developer companies from selling properties for a purchase price that includes GST and then dissolving their business before they are liable to…
Privacy — It is everyone’s business
Even if you have no interest in privacy law, you would need to be living on a planet in a galaxy far, far away not to be aware of the GDPR. GDPR The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), came into operation on 25 May 2018. During the weeks leading up to that date…
Breaking up is hard to do — Communicating termination of employment
HARD CONVERSATIONS Two of the hardest conversations to have with anyone are ending a relationship and terminating employment. On the former, the etiquette guide Debrett’s gives this guidance on the appropriate method of communication: “Always meet up with your (soon-to-be-ex) partner; email and text are a savage and brutal mode of relationship torture”…
“Your employee offended me. What are you going to do about it?”: Employee Social Media Conduct
A Complaint is Made It’s hardly a starting or novel observation that social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are not always exemplars of courteous, respectful discussion and debate. Exchanges can often descend into insults and crude ad hominem attacks. On occasion these exchanges will end with one of the parties threatening…
Five employment law cases that shook the world: #1 Can notice and annual leave run together?
As part of a series of articles we are examining five employment law cases that shook the world (or at least members of the Australian HR community). A matter that frequently causes confusion in the sphere of employment law is the interplay between notice and annual leave. For example, if an employee is…
Five employment law cases that shook the world: #2 Annual leave loading is payable on termination
As part of a series of articles we are examining five employment law cases that shook the world (or at least members of the Australian HR community). There was a time when there was some uncertainty as to whether an employee who was entitled to paid annual leave loading, was also entitled to…