OUR PUBLICATIONS

By Owen Ratner

Increasingly a large percentage of Australians assets are held in superannuation funds. What happens to those funds on the death of a member is much misunderstood. A superannuation death benefit is a payment from a superannuation fund after the death of a member. A member’s interest in a superannuation fund does not automatically form part

By Allan McDougall

Many electrical and building contractors are entering the burgeoning photovoltaic (PV) system supply industry as a result of government policies favouring energy conservation and efficiency. A new business opportunity presents in a slow economic environment burdened nonetheless by rising energy costs. The PV supply industry is particularly attractive due to the lure of legislated incentives

By Daniel Fleming

The Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011 (Cth) (CDR Act) obliges parties who commence proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Court to file a ‘genuine steps’ statement setting out what steps, if any, each party has taken to resolve the dispute, or explaining why no steps have been taken. The decision of Justice

By Allan McDougall

Anyone who provides any type of finance or credit for sale of goods or leases or hires out plant and equipment must become acquainted with the new Personal Properties Securities Act (“PPSA”) which came into effect on 30 January 2012. The PPSA is a significant piece of legislation, reforming the law relating to security interests

By Allan McDougall

Landlords and tenants would be forgiven for thinking they need not worry about the new Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA), which commenced on 30 January 2012.  After all, the new law refers to personal property, not land, so there should be no problem. However the PPSA has implications for real estate as well. In

By Bruce Gotterson

The following Article is from Bruce Gotterson’s regular article in Club Life Contracting with a catering company So the Club has decided to contract out its catering operations.  You are about to seek tenders to source the right caterer for your club. During discussions at a Board meeting one of the directors suggest, “We should

By Bruce Gotterson

The prevalence of social media has increased exponentially since the advent of smart phones. Society has embraced social media to the extent that it has become second nature and an embedded part of our lives. Social media allows people to communicate with each other, express opinions and debate topical issues and provides people with the

By Bruce Gotterson

The following Article is from Bruce Gotterson’s regular article in Club Life The triennial rule and your club Club readers will be aware through Clubs NSW E-Circular 11-191 on 24 November 2011 that both houses of the NSW Parliament passed the “Clubs, Liquor and Gaming Machines Legislation Amendment Bill 2011” late last year. As the

By Bruce Gotterson

The following Article is from Bruce Gotterson’s regular article in Club Life Changes to a Club’s Constitution It’s summer, the Beach, BBQ’s, the cricket – a time to reflect and an opportunity to re-enforce our knowledge of the basic concepts. There are plenty of those but for me one of the most important is, “how

By Allan McDougall

Introduction The funding of hiring contracts by way of principal and agency agreement (“P&A”) is a common financing technique for the supply of business equipment across all Australian states. The rationale for the P&A structure is that it permits one party, usually the equipment’s supplier, to retain its personal relationship with the customer, while at

By Anthony Gavan

Due to the alarming number of young children that have died from drowning in swimming pools, the NSW Government has introduced amendments to the Swimming Pools Act 1992 to strengthen pool safety requirements. The Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012 (the Act) received assent and commenced on 29 October 2012. The Act introduces a whole new

By Allan McDougall

Background The commencement date for the Commonwealth Government’s long-awaited Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA) has now been pushed back to 30 January 2012.  However, because of the dramatic and far-reaching changes the PPSA will introduce it very much remains timely and appropriate for business people to inform themselves of the PPSA’s effect on a wide