The Supreme Court of Victoria has imposed record penalties against a labour hire provider and its director / secretary for contraventions ‘striking at the heart’ of the purposes of the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic).

Recent decisions of the Victorian Supreme Court have confirmed that the consequences for trustees are potentially disastrous if trust documentation is mislaid and cannot be located.

The definitions of spouse, domestic and de facto partner are not consistent across all areas of law.  It may be that in the absence of marriage, a person finds it difficult to evidence that they are:

The Federal Court has provided guidance regarding the approval of settlement agreements and settlement distribution schemes in the employment context in the recent case of Bradshaw v BSA Limited (No 2).

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) found an employer to be vicariously liable for the unlawful sexual harassment of an employee. The employer was ordered to pay $150,000.

In the recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) decision in Lavender Rain Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue (Review and Regulation) [2022] VCAT 1264 (Lavender Rain) the primary production land tax exemption for urban zoned land was denied on the basis that the land owning company operated a number of businesses, including the entering into a property development agreement.

In Part 1 of our Super Guarantee article series, we discussed the background to the super guarantee regime and an overview of how the regime operates. In Part 2, we looked at who will be covered by the super guarantee regime, and in Part 3 we specifically looked at when this will include certain contractors.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently held that a general protections application submitted seven minutes late warranted an extension of time because of exceptional circumstances.

The High Court in Bosanac v Commissioner of Taxation [2022] HCA 34 culminated a protracted debate on whether to apply the presumption of resulting trust or presumption of advancement in the context of a matrimonial home.

It is common for employers to face conflicting versions of events when investigating sexual harassment complaints. When dealing with such instances, employers are required to assess the reliability and credibility of the evidence to make findings on the balance of probabilities.

As discussed under Part 2 of this super guarantee article series, under the super guarantee system, super contributions must be made on behalf of “employees” as that term is defined under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SG Act).

Sladen Legal has been recognised as a Third Tier Leading Tax Law Firm – Victoria, 2022 in the recently released Doyles Guide Victoria, 2022. Doyles Guide is a comprehensive and independent directory which showcases Australia’s best firms and lawyers.

Discretionary trusts are common structures for family businesses. How do we effectively transition these structures to the next generation?

On 19 September 2022, Justice Thawley of the Federal Court handed down his decision in BBlood Enterprises Pty Ltd v FCT [2022] FCA 1112 (BBlood), the most recent decision on section 100A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) was successful in arguing that section 100A applied.

The Federal Government has taken further steps to implement outstanding recommendations contained in the Respect@Work Report (the Report), which was initially published by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner (the Commissioner) in January 2020.

Under the super guarantee system, super contributions are made on behalf of “employees”.

Section 12(1) of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SG Act) provides that “employees” for the purposes of the SG Act are defined under their ordinary meaning. That is, the meaning of that term at common law.

Acting with emotion (rather than logic) can unfortunately lead cause an employer to make poor or irrational decisions about terminating an employee’s employment.

The recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s (Tribunal) decision in Petroulis v Commissioner of State Revenue [2022] VCAT 1054 dismissed the taxpayers’ request for review of the land tax assessments issued by the Commissioner.

The recent Federal Court decision of Minerva Financial Group Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2022] FCA 1092 (Minerva) signifies that the Federal Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) can successfully scrutinise a trustee’s discretion under the general anti-avoidance provisions (Part IVA).