As Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind emphasised, ‘2025 is going to be a big year for privacy and enforcement action’. Most of the new provisions commenced on 10 or 11 December 2024, but two significant changes will roll out later: The tort for serious...
Some of the key changes include: Introducing a Statutory Test for ‘characterising’ work Relationships Section 7A will be inserted into the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) (IR Act), which will provide that the question of whether an individual is an employee (rather...
The Bill implements 23 of 25 legislative changes arising from the Commonwealth Government’s 2023 response to the Attorney-General’s Department Privacy Act Review Report. The Bill lays the foundation for significant changes aimed at strengthening privacy protections...
Background – This has been a long time coming The Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024 (WA) passed through WA Parliament on on 5 November 2024. A significant reform to the retirement villages legislation in this state, the Bill (now Act) builds on past reforms such...
Dougie Hampson was a 36-year-old Kamilaroi/Dunghutti father of eight who died from perforated stomach ulcers after being misdiagnosed with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, despite lacking key symptoms of nausea and vomiting. He was discharged after 19 hours without...
Background The Respondent was an enrolled nurse who worked at a residential aged care facility which catered for approximately 30 elderly residents some of whom suffered from various stages of dementia. The facility utilised a particular type of therapy known as Doll...
It is uncontroversial that employers owe a duty of care to their employees to provide a safe system of work and to take reasonable steps to prevent reasonably foreseeable injuries. This paramount duty extends beyond physical safety to encompass psychological...
Background Dr Sivathasan was a New South Wales based General Practitioner, with a background in cosmetic surgery. Between May 2020 and September 2022, Dr Sivathasan was the subject of five separate notifications relating to procedures performed by him and an...
Introduction Victoria was an early adopter of VAD, passing Australian-first legislation in November 2017 and with their VAD scheme commencing in June 2019. Western Australia followed shortly after, passing legislation in December 2019, resulting in the scheme...
In Medical Board of Australia v Origanti [2024] VCAT 467, the Medical Board of Australia (the Board) took the unusual step of initiating concurrent proceedings against three medical practitioners under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law relating to...