The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has given a ‘red mark’ to more than 5,000 charities that have failed to submit their 2014 Annual Information Statements (AIS) due for most charities in January 2015. The red mark appears as an exclamation alert on the charity’s listing on the charity register.

Volunteering Australia, the national peak body for volunteering, has released a new definition of volunteering after a 2 year review. The new definition is ‘time willingly given for the common good without financial gain’.

A recent VCAT decision has clarified the powers of Owners Corporations to regulate short term leasing. It is common for Owners Corporation Rules to restrict certain activities that can be done in a multi-unit complex.

The Tribunal has recently considered the new reimbursement of fees provisions inserted into the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (VCAT Act) in 2014. 

The Federal Court has set aside a previous decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) which approved the Swinburne University of Technology's 2014 enterprise agreement, due to the inclusion of ineligible casual or sessional employees in the voting process for the agreement. 

There have been a number of legal developments in the small business sector which should be welcomed as wins for small business operators.  This alert provides a summary of three of those developments that are particularly relevant following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s release of its Small Business in Focus report for the six months to June 2015.

In a recent case in the Federal Circuit Court an employer; Corrective Services New South Wales, was ordered to pay a former probation and parole officer employed by it the sum of $180,000 plus interest as a result of discriminatory treatment of her.  The employee suffered from Crohn’s Disease and took sick leave on a number of occasions.

The start of the 2015/16 financial year brings into effect new minimum pay rates and thresholds.