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Limitation Period on Recovery of Overpaid Rates
The New South Wales Court of Appeal has recently clarified the scope of a ratepayer’s ability to recover overpaid rates and, in particular, the breadth of the restriction on such recovery imposed by the Recovery of Imposts Act 1963 (RoI…
New Information and Privacy Commission Guidelines for the Disclosure of Interest Returns
The Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) has recently published a report (the report) on the outcome of its follow-up audit on councils, to determine their compliance with the requirement to publish returns of interest lodged by councillors and designated persons…
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…
Managing resident expectations in planning appeals – 2023 Update
Note: This blog was first published in January 2013. It has been updated to reflect changes in the law since then. Resident objectors have a unique role in development appeals in Class 1 of the Land & Environment Court’s jurisdiction….
New Flood Risk Management Manual: Liability implications
Introduction On 10 November 2023, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Flood Planning) Regulation 2023 (EPA Reg Amendment) was published on the NSW legislation website. It amended the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA Reg) and replaced references to the Floodplain…
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…
Taking enforcement action? Make sure you have identified the correct perpetrator
Before taking enforcement action, it is critical for the enforcement agency to identify the correct perpetrator. A failure to do so may result in the validity of the enforcement action being successfully challenged or defeated. This issue regularly arises in…
Reclassifying community land – is it effective to permit its sale?
Note: Since this article was published, this case is now undergoing appeal. We will keep you informed of any developments. Introduction With some exceptions, land owned and controlled by local Councils, can generally be described as public land. Such land…
Court of Criminal Appeal considers when an environmental prosecution is time barred
A recent decision by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (‘CCA‘) confirms the principles of statutory interpretation and construction that apply to time limitations when commencing prosecutions under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (‘NPW Act’) and the Biodiversity…
An expanded notion of the duty to undertake an REF (Review of Environmental Factors) under Division 5.1 of the EPA Act?
Before carrying out or approving an activity under Division 5.1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘), determining authorities are required to consider the environmental impacts of the activity. This is commonly referred to as a review of…
Easements by prescription: What Constitutes Permission by a Servient Landowner?
In the recent NSW Supreme Court decision of Maloney v Putu Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 1148, the Court granted an easement by prescription over the defendant’s land to formalise the plaintiff’s right to use an access road which the plaintiff,…
Guidelines on the Withdrawal of Development Applications: meaningful response to the affordability crisis?
New South Wales, and indeed Australia more broadly, is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Successive state governments have pursued a range of changes and reforms to boost housing supply and affordability in NSW and, in that context,…
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