The Government has passed legislation that will give the ACCC stronger powers and greater flexibility when enforcing the Franchising Code of Conduct, the mandatory industry code regulating the conduct of both franchisors and franchisees alike.

The Bill, which will commence on 1 January 2015, gives ...

The Federal Court earlier today handed down its ruling in the proceedings commenced by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commissionagainst Coles supermarkets, ordering that:

• Coles be banned for 3 years from advertising its bread as “fresh” and “baked daily” when that wasn’t the case
• Coles mu
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The Grattan Institute released a report in 2014 called “Dying Well” noting that although 70% of Australians want to die at home, only 14% end up doing so, with the rest passing away in hospital or aged care facilities.  The report encourages policy and attitudinal change to assist people to “die wel...

A Granny Flat is typically a self-contained unit within or attached to another home, often with the intent that the elderly resident can be close to family and help if required.

For social security purposes, a granny flat arrangement does not necessarily require a separate residence – it just needs...

It is not uncommon for a landlord to make extensive investigations into a tenant’s financial situation, to minimise the risk that the tenant will fall into financial hardship and not be able to pay the rent.

But what if the landlord suffers financial hardship?  What then are the tenant’s rights?

I...

Every so often, a default judgment will be entered against an apparent debtor, but the debtor has no idea about the court proceedings having been commenced against it, or indeed about the debt itself.

The first time they know about it is when the sheriff comes knocking on their door, or when they a...

If you hear that someone has said something about your character or some other personal trait, often a knee-jerk reaction is to think “they’ve defamed me and they can’t do that.”  However this is not always the case.  You first need to understand the legalities of defamation, and how this may apply ...

Time and time again Shire Legal prepares Wills for parents who are living in Australia and whose ex-spouses are resident overseas, with little or no contact with the children. If the Australian parent dies, will the children be required to move overseas to live with their surviving parent?

Not nece...

When you are selling a business, you are transferring ownership of a bundle of rights, responsibilities and assets that are used together to create profit for their owner. These rights, responsibilities and assets need to be clearly identified so they can be effectively transferred from seller to bu...

Like many commercial transactions, the transfer of ownership of property is underpinned by the common law doctrine of “buyer beware” (aka “caveat emptor”).  That is, the purchaser needs to make sure they make their own enquiries and carry out their own pre-purchase inspections to be satisfied as to ...