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Employers can be liable for psychiatric injuries arising from termination
In December 2024, the High Court overturned a long-standing precedent preventing an employee from claiming damages for psychiatric injury arising from a breach of an employment contract by an employer. In Elisha v Vision Australia Limited [2024] HCA 50, the…
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The New Tort of Serious Invasion of Privacy: What does it mean for authorities?
Until the passage of the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Amending Act), there was no general right to privacy in Australia except as provided by the relevant privacy legislation (such as the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act…
Breach of the Information Protection Principles by Fire and Rescue NSW
By nature of their operations, public sector agencies and organisations possess personal information provided by their employees and the general public they serve. While much community focus has been placed on protecting data stored digitally, agencies must ensure compliance with…
REMINDER: Changes to Defamation Law Have Commenced
At the end of last year, we wrote about changes to NSW defamation laws that introduced new exemptions and defences for potentially defamatory content posted online. Our article discusses these changes in detail: Changes to Defamation Law: New Exemptions and…
Local government ‘Senior Staff’ positions to be abolished
The employment conditions of most employees of local councils are set out in the relevant local government award (Relevant Award). For most councils, the Relevant Award is the Local Government State Award 2023. Prior to the changes discussed below, the…
High Court requires local council to honour contract despite budgetary constraints
‘No good can come from a circumstance in which a local government body takes action to foster the development of its area without also being willing and able to fund the action it has contractually promised to undertake’ is the opening…
Section 68 appeals dismissed: The limit of the Court’s power in merit appeals under s39(2) of the Land and Environment Court Act
When making decisions in its ‘merit appeal’ jurisdiction (such as Class 1 and 2 Appeals), the Land and Environment Court (LEC) is vested with all the functions and discretions which the person or body whose decision is the subject of…
Fair Work Commission decision raises doubt about legal status of local councils in NSW
Section 220 of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) declares that a council is ‘is a body politic of the State’ and ‘is not a body corporate (including a corporation)‘. Amongst other things, this declaration is considered to largely shield…
Employment law: what is a ‘reasonable’ period of probation?
For the first time in the context of a local council, the recent decision of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) in Shrestha v City of Ryde Council [2024] NSWIRComm 1005 has considered the interactions between differing lengths of probationary…
Bill to Change Costs in Discrimination Proceedings Introduced to Federal Parliament
Introduction Following the Respect@Work report into harassment and discrimination in the workplace, many changes have been made to the harassment and discrimination legal framework at the Federal level, including extending the protections offered under the Age Discrimination Act 2004, Disability…
Changes to Defamation Law: New Exemptions and Defences for the Digital Age
In a world where anyone can post content online, including anonymously, the traditional understanding of a ‘publisher’ for the purposes of defamation law has been a vexed issue. Several High Court decisions in recent years have tried to define who…
How much ‘disturbance’ is required before compensation is payable when land is compulsorily acquired?
Given the significant number of public infrastructure construction projects at all levels of government – and particularly with large projects such as Sydney Metro, Western Sydney Airport, and WestConnex – the law regarding the compulsory acquisition of rights and interests…