Pub­li­ca­tions

12 Mar 2026

Where is my mind? The rise of con­tentious pro­bate pro­ceed­ings sur­round­ing the issue of tes­ta­men­tary capacity

In New South Wales, fam­i­ly pro­vi­sion and con­tentious pro­bate claims under the Suc­ces­sion Act 2006 (NSW) are increas­ing­ly focused on whether a will was made with valid tes­ta­men­tary capac­i­ty. With an age­ing pop­u­la­tion and ris­ing dis­putes, courts con­tin­ue to apply the long­stand­ing Banks v Good­fel­low test to deter­mine the valid­i­ty of wills…

9 Mar 2026

Kyle and Jack­ie O: The Work­place Rela­tions Law Perspective

The rela­tion­ship between show­busi­ness duos often comes to an acri­mo­nious end. Mar­tin and Lewis split at the height of their fame, with a brief rap­proche­ment bro­kered by Frank Sina­tra after 20 years in which they did not speak to each oth­er. Simon and Gar­funkel have had a frac­tious alliance, even split­ting a first time…

9 Feb 2026

The Paper­cut Deci­sion and the Cur­rent Posi­tion on WFH

The FWC’s John­son v Paper­Cut Soft­ware deci­sion has renewed debate about the lim­its of work­ing from home rights. While some have com­pared it to Chan­dler v West­pac, the cas­es high­light that WFH out­comes depend on indi­vid­ual cir­cum­stances, con­tract terms and employ­er poli­cies. The rul­ing under­scores that no sin­gle case estab­lish­es a uni­ver­sal right…

6 Feb 2026

Valen­tine’s Day in the Work­place (2026 Edition)

Valentine’s Day may appear harm­less, but in work­places it can cre­ate legal and cul­tur­al risks. Even well‑meant roman­tic ges­tures can be unwel­come and poten­tial­ly con­sti­tute sex­u­al harass­ment or con­tribute to a hos­tile envi­ron­ment under the Sex Dis­crim­i­na­tion Act. With employ­ers now car­ry­ing pos­i­tive duties to pre­vent such con­duct, the tra­di­tions of…

12 Jan 2026

Aus­tralia Day Sub­sti­tu­tion: The Legal Issues (2026 Edition)

As more major employ­ers allow staff to work on Aus­tralia Day and take the pub­lic hol­i­day lat­er, impor­tant legal ques­tions arise. With grow­ing flex­i­bil­i­ty and shift­ing views on 26 Jan­u­ary, employ­ers must under­stand the rules around sub­sti­tut­ing pub­lic hol­i­days, ensur­ing gen­uine employ­ee con­sent, and avoid­ing any per­cep­tion of undue influence.It has…

17 Dec 2025

Aqua­land North Syd­ney Laven­der Devel­op­ment Pty Ltd v The Own­ers — Stra­ta Plan No 102091 [2025] NSW­CA 143

A recent NSW Court of Appeal deci­sion gives Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions greater con­fi­dence in defect lit­i­ga­tion, ensur­ing devel­op­ers using SPV struc­tures can­not eas­i­ly avoid liability.An impor­tant deci­sion hand­ed by the NSW Court of Appeal in July has giv­en Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions engag­ing in defect lit­i­ga­tion against devel­op­ers util­is­ing a typ­i­cal spe­cial pur­pose vehi­cle cor­po­rate…

17 Dec 2025

Know Your Con­struc­tion Con­tract — A Cau­tion­ary ​‘Time Bar’ Tale from West­con­nex M5 Motor­way Tun­nel Project Sydney

The NSW Court of Appeal has con­firmed that Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions can seek freez­ing orders to stop devel­op­ers using SPV struc­tures from divest­ing assets, strength­en­ing recov­ery prospects in defect litigation.Con­struc­tion con­tracts often include detailed pro­vi­sions set­ting out pre­scribed regimes for the pro­vi­sion of claims. Such regimes pro­vide for the form and detail…

17 Dec 2025

One Devel­op­ment, Two Tow­ers and Two Occu­pa­tion Cer­tifi­cates (one Inter­im and one Final). When Does the Home Build­ing Act Statu­to­ry War­ran­ty Peri­od Commence?

The NSW Supreme Court has clar­i­fied when statu­to­ry war­ran­ty peri­ods start for staged devel­op­ments under the Home Build­ing Act 1989 (NSW). In The Own­ers – Stra­ta Plan No 93543 v Zhang (No 3) [2025] NSWSC 571, the Court exam­ined com­ple­tion dates for sep­a­rate build­ings, impact­ing lim­i­ta­tion peri­ods for defect claims.Most pro­ceed­ings brought…

17 Dec 2025

Stra­ta Schemes Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Mis­cel­la­neous) Bill 2025 — Round 4 Pro­posed Changes

The pro­posed NSW stra­ta reform Bill intro­duced into Par­lia­ment on 19 Novem­ber 2025 aims to clar­i­fy exist­ing pro­vi­sions, boost con­sumer pro­tec­tions, and reduce reg­u­la­to­ry bur­dens. Key changes include exemp­tions for two-lot schemes, stricter rules on stra­ta man­ag­er terms and com­mis­sions, manda­to­ry com­mit­tee train­ing, and tight­ened rules on bonds, fees, and…

3 Dec 2025

How to Choose the Right Con­struc­tion Con­tract: AS4122 Con­di­tions vs Com­mer­cial Terms of Business

Select­ing the right con­tract is crit­i­cal for con­sul­tants and con­trac­tors in the con­struc­tion indus­try. The choice between AS4122 Gen­er­al Con­di­tions of Con­tract for Con­sul­tants and Com­mer­cial Terms of Busi­ness can sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact project risk, time­lines, and out­comes. In this arti­cle, we break down the key dif­fer­ences, explain when each option…