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Updates to The Laws of Australia

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Content updates

The following Subtitles are now updated and available on Westlaw:

Administrative Law 2.7 “Other Forms of Review and Appeal”; Communications 6.6 “Telecommunications”; Criminal Sentencing 12.7 “Custodial Orders”; Evidence 16.2 “Proof in Civil Cases”; Government 19.8 “Military Law”; Real Property 28.7 “Landlord and Tenant”; Restrictive Trade Practices 30.2 “Competition Law”; Unfair Dealing 35.7 “Duress”

Administrative Law 2.7 “Other Forms of Review and Appeal”
Updated by Damien J Cremean, Adjunct Professor, Australian Catholic University

This Subtitle focuses on the legal processes reviewing administrative action alternatively to judicial review. This update discusses the establishment and organisation of administrative review tribunals, including the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, as well as procedural fairness.

Key Cases: Ultimate Vision Inventions Pty Ltd v Innovation and Science Australia [2023] FCAFC 23; Secretary of the Ministry of Health v New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association (2022) 320 IR 249; [2022] NSWSC 1178; Re Owners of High Rise Strata Plan 8245 [2022] WASC 450.
Key Legislation: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Regulation 2022 (NSW); Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2020 (Tas).

Communications 6.6 “Telecommunications”
Updated by Mark A Gregory, Engineering Leader, Network Engineering Research Group

This Subtitle covers the various provisions regulating carriers, carriage service providers and content service providers within Australia. This update discusses the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which handles end user complaints with respect to carriage services.

Key Legislation: Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).

Criminal Sentencing 12.7 “Custodial Orders”
Updated by Kate M Bonney, Barrister, Brisbane Chambers

This Subtitle examines the laws relating to various forms of custodial sentences, including home detention, periodic detention, and terms of life imprisonment, which is considered in the context of indeterminate sentences. This update includes discussion of home detention in New South Wales and South Australia, including certain offences which exclude an offender from the re-integration home detention program, and intensive correction orders in the Australian Capital Territory.

Key Legislation: Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW); Sentencing Act 2017 (SA).

Evidence 16.2 “Proof in Civil Cases”
Updated by Professor Mirko Bagaric, Professor, School of Law, Swinburne University of Technology

This Subtitle explores the nature and incidence of the burdens of proof in civil proceedings, and explains the standard of civil proof. Specifically, it distinguishes the burden of adducing evidence from the burden of persuasion, explains the general rules for determining the incidence of each burden and the role of presumptions in doing so, and then goes on to discuss the more important presumptions.

Government 19.8 “Military Law” 
New Subtitle by Professor Dale Stephens CSM FAAL, Director, Adelaide Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics, University of Adelaide Law School and Professor Matthew Stubbs, Management Board Member, Adelaide Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics, University of Adelaide Law School

This new Subtitle provides a comprehensive discussion of issues related to military law. The discussion starts with the Constitutional and legislative history and structure of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), beginning with the first Australian military forces established in the pre-Federation era. It then addresses the evolution and modern implementation of military administrative and discipline law. It also examines the legal context of contemporary armed conflict (for example in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria) and considers how the law has been adapted to meet modern operational requirements of the ADF.

Key Cases: Private R v Cowen (2020) 94 ALJR 849; [2020] HCA 31; Igoe v Ryan (No 2) (2020) 280 FCR 327; [2020] FCA 1091. 
Key Legislation: Defence Legislation Amendment (Discipline Reform) Act 2021 (Cth).

Real Property 28.7 “Landlord and Tenant”
Updated by Dr W Rupert Johnson, Senior Lecturer, School of Law and Business Faculty of Arts, Sciences, Law and Business, The University of Notre Dame Australia (Fremantle Campus) and Dr John Mugambwa, Formerly Adjunct Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University

This Subtitle deals with the relationship of landlord and tenant, and the rights and liabilities of landlord and tenant under leases and agreements for lease. This update focuses on the granting of exclusive possession of a property and the legal rights involved, as well as equitable estoppel, subleases and the enforceability of an option.

Key Cases: Brown v The Stables Perisher Management Pty Ltd [2021] NSWSC 1688; JKAM Investments Pty Ltd v Damien [2021] NSWSC 70. 

Restrictive Trade Practices 30.2 “Competition Law”
Updated by Daniel Clough, Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne

This Subtitle deals with competition law and anti-competitive practices prohibited by Pt IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). This update discusses the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the process whereby information can be provided, as well as the penalty and remedy provisions of Pt VI for persons who have contravened the Act. Also discussed is the meaning of “market” in the context of competition law, nationally and internationally, and by reference to product, geography, function and time.  

Key Cases: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Bluescope Steel Ltd (No 5) [2022] FCA 1475.
Key Legislation: Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

Unfair Dealing 35.7 “Duress”
Updated by Dr Paul Vout KC, Member of the Victorian Bar

The law of duress has a number of features which are common across the different forms which illegitimate pressure may take. This update offers discussion of the meaning of “undue pressure” and “duress”, as well as the elements which constitute duress and unconscionable conduct.

Key Cases: Elite Realty Development Pty Ltd v Sadek [2022] NSWSC 1333; Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (No 3) (2021) 304 IR 428; [2021] FCA 363; Thorne v Kennedy (2017) 263 CLR 85; 91 ALJR 1260; [2017] HCA 49. 
Key Legislation: Australian Consumer Law.

Currently scheduled upcoming updates (subject to change):

  • Contracts: Specific 8.2 “Real Estate Agents”
  • Environment and Natural Resources 14.8 “Cultural Heritage”
  • Equity 15.5 “Declarations”
  • Professional Liability 27.6 “Brokers”
By The Laws of Australia

The Laws of Australia (TLA) team is a group of legally trained editors working exclusively on Thomson Reuters’ legal encyclopaedia.

TLA editors are particularly dedicated to maintaining the accuracy and currency of the encyclopaedia, ensuring it is a relevant research tool for both students and practitioners. TLA covers over 300 separate areas of law across all Australian jurisdictions, making it the ideal starting point for researching unfamiliar areas of the law.

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