Home

Are you a Principal or a Contractor receiving requests for payment on construction projects?

Most construction contracts these days are caught under the Construction Contracts Act (“the Act”).  You may not know that under the Act, unless your contract says otherwise, you only have 14 days to respond to the payment request by saying how much you are prepared to pay, or rejecting it outright. If you do not do this, you have to pay the claim in full. Essentially, you lose your right to challenge the payee’s right to full payment of their claim if they decide to take your non-payment to adjudication.

A boom for multimedia copyright owners - NRL v Optus

The Full Court of the Federal Court recently held on appeal in the case of National Rugby League Investments Limited v Singtel Optus Ltd [2012] FCAFC 59 that Optus had infringed copyright in television broadcasts by providing a television recording service.

GST tie breaker - are you the representative of an incapacitated entity or a creditor?

We might be forgiven for suggesting that Australia’s various tax laws are not the easiest documents to understand and interpret. This is particularly the case where there are apparent overlapping and conflicting provisions, such as the GST provisions relating to supplies by a representative of an incapacitated entity where the representative is also a creditor of that entity.

Local governments undertaking or facilitating major real estate projects

A growing number of Local Governments in Western Australia are undertaking or facilitating major real estate development projects with private sector proponents.

The meaning of “Construction” is pretty simple... isn’t it?

Many “construction” contracts are covered by the Construction Contracts Act. In most scenarios, parties can quickly work out whether or not their contract is covered by the Act and it is important to know whether it is. The Act has important consequences – it implies certain terms into construction contracts; prohibits or modifies other provisions and provides a means for the swift resolution of payment disputes.

So let’s remind ourselves of some items not covered under the definition of a construction contract.

Duty of care to exercise statutory powers - two recent decisions

Two recent decisions of the Courts of Appeal of Western Australia and New South Wales have provided important confirmation of the law relating to the duty of care to exercise statutory powers – and a stark illustration of the breadth of issues that local governments may face.

Condition Vs Warranty in a Contract

A Contract for the Sale of land or buildings subjects both the Seller and the Buyer to a number of distinct terms and obligations.

Social media policy key to employee disciplinary action

The recent case of Stutsel v Linfox Australia Pty Ltd [2011] FWA 8444 (19 December 2011) highlights the importance of employers implementing a defined social media policy and educating their employees about the policy.

Broadening the scope to discrimination harrassment and discrimination claims in the workplace

The recent high profile case commenced by Sally Berkeley against Pacific Brands claiming $9 million for bullying and harassment in the workplace, and the earlier highly publicised case of Kristy Fraser-Kirk and David Jones, have served to highlight to many employers why it is necessary to take a proactive and vigilant approach to discrimination and harassment in the workplace at every level of the organisation.

The New ABCC: The Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate

The Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2012 was passed through the House of Representatives on Thursday 16
February 2012.

The Bill, once passed by the Senate, will replace the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act) with the Fair Work (Building Industry) Act 2012.