OUR PUBLICATIONS

By Bruce Gotterson

This article appeared in the July 2017 issue of Club Life. With another round of Annual General Meetings (AGMs) coming up in August through to November, I thought it timely to write about some of the questions I often get asked concerning AGMs. When does a club have to hold an AGM? The 90 plus

By Bruce Gotterson

This article appeared in the June 2017 issue of Club Life. In a recent decision, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA Board) considered some of the important requirements under the Registered Clubs Act in relation to a club secretary. If these requirements are not complied with by a club or its secretary, the ILGA

By Daniel Fleming

With whom are you contracting? An essential and sometimes overlooked aspect of commercial relationships with clients or customers is identifying exactly who the client or customer is. A person or a company may register a business name under which the person or company trades. However, a business name is simply a name and not a

By Daniel Fleming

What are unfair preferences? An unfair preference is defined in section 588FA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) as a transaction between a company and a creditor which results in the creditor receiving from the company, in respect of an unsecured debt that the company owes to the creditor, more than the creditor would receive

By Leonie Kyriacou

It is estimated that there are 2.1 million small businesses in Australia.  ACCC research estimates that those businesses are offered about 8 “standard form contracts” each year.  For the most part, those contracts are offered to the small businesses on a “take it or leave it” basis. Even if there was an opportunity for a

By Bruce Gotterson

This article appeared in the May 2017 issue of Club Life. I recently wrote about “Entire Agreement” clauses, a common clause found in the types of commercial agreements entered into by clubs. This article considers another common clause in commercial agreements – the “No Waiver” clause. Waiver of Rights No Waiver clauses are relevant when

By Daniel Fleming

For any business, getting some form of security from debtors is best practice but it can be difficult and is not always practical. However, business owners who extend a large amount of credit as part of their sales process are putting the viability of their businesses at risk if they do so without having some

By Daniel Fleming

Quick overview A judgment creditor is not obliged to exhaust the conventional means of debt enforcement before applying for a bankruptcy notice. However, judgment creditors should exercise caution before serving a bankruptcy notice, as the judgment debtor may have grounds to have the bankruptcy notice set aside. Bankruptcy notices It is not uncommon for a

By Daniel Fleming

In Death and Taxes: Tax-effective Estate Planning (6th ed., 2014), the authors state at

By Bruce Gotterson

This article appeared in the April 2017 issue of Club Life. A club, like any other commercial enterprise, will be involved in many commercial relationships and transactions in the course of its operations. These commercial arrangements will more than likely be regulated by a contract between the club and the other party – it may

By Bruce Gotterson

This article appeared in the March 2017 issue of Club Life. All clubs that are public companies (and over 90% are) must have a constitution and all clubs that are co-operatives must have a set of rules. Both documents govern the internal management of the club and are a club’s most important document. So what

By Bruce Gotterson

This article appeared in the February 2017 issue of Club Life. It goes without saying that there is an increasing focus on the type and quality of food offered by clubs.  The decision on how to best provide the right food at the right price is clearly a very important one.  What it comes down