By: Charu Stevenson and Hamshini Sathiyamoorthy The Owners – Strata Plan No 84674 v Pafburn Pty Ltd [2023] NSWCA 301 At a glance From June 2020, section 37 of the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) (DBP Act) introduced a new duty of care on those who carried out “construction work”. This article considers […]
GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32 At a glance On 1 November 2023, the High Court of Australia delivered its decision in GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32, which we covered here. The […]
What made you decide to become a lawyer? Other than the usual desire to argue a point with everyone and shows like Boston Legal (aged very poorly, I know), I like the fact that the law is not actually made up of rigid principles but rather can be moulded to suit particular circumstances, and that’s […]
GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32 At a glance The High Court of Australia has today delivered judgment in GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32 and, by majority, has allowed an appeal from […]
At a glance On 16 October 2023, the REA will adopt a new process for handling complaints against real estate agents. Under the new process, there will be an earlier opportunity for licensees to make their case to have a complaint dismissed. The REA is also adopting new timeframes for responses to complaints that have […]
At a glance The NSW Government has proposed a practice standard for engineers, which includes imposing a new obligation to ensure that designs for professional engineering work are “fit for purpose”. However, the existing regulatory framework for professional engineering work within the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 NSW (DBP Act) and Regulation already deals […]
WSP Structures Pty Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Company t/as Liberty Specialty Markets [2023] FCA 1157 At a glance On 28 September 2023, the Federal Court of Australia found a liability policy covered a sub-contracting engineer and opened up double insurance claims. The case involved claims against WSP, the structural engineer for Sydney’s Opal Tower […]
The High Court’s recent decision in James v Luxury Real Estate Limited involved an appeal from the District Court by the owners of a luxury property in Queenstown. The case concerned allegations of a breach of fiduciary duties and repudiation of a real estate agency agreement by the listing agency and agent. Ultimately, despite a […]
New Zealand tax residents are generally required to pay tax on their worldwide income, even if they do not bring it into New Zealand or another country has already deducted tax. As intergovernmental tax transparency agreements and treaties have improved the flow of information across borders, there is an increased risk of professional negligence claims […]
Australia is seeing sweeping state-based legislative reform intended to regain public confidence in the building and construction industry. For example, in NSW, the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 will have a significant effect on establishing the liability of design and building practitioners within the construction industry and how they are insured. In contrast, the […]
