New Land Tax Exemption for Social and Emergency Housing

The Victorian State Budget for 2024/2025 has revealed a new tax measure for land utilised in social and emergency housing. This new land tax exemption aims to clarify existing arrangements, ensuring landowners involved in such housing initiatives are not burdened by excessive land tax obligations.

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Giving data to subcontractors – lessons from recent Notifiable Data Breaches

We are all too familiar with the growing number of data breaches in both Australia and abroad. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently issued its Notifiable Data Breaches Report (Report) for June 2023 to December 2023, revealing some concerning findings.

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Retail Leases Act 2003 does not apply to premises above third storey

Certain retail premises are excluded from the protection and requirements of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Act), including premises used for the retail provision of services located above the first three floors in a multi-story building (Third Storey Exclusion). A recent VCAT ruling in Aqua Greenland Pty Ltd v Max Therapy School Pty Ltd (Building and Property) [2023] VCAT 449 has considered the Third Story Exclusion.

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Succession Planning with Digital Assets

Not so long ago, the possessions that people left to their estate after passing away were physical and tangible like cars, cash or jewellery. These days however people produce a significant digital footprint consisting of accounts, profiles, and digital assets. New assets and investments such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, loyalty program accounts and social media accounts are all changing the succession planning process. Existing tools like Wills and trusts remain effective to deal with these digital assets.

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