Harwood Andrews is pleased to announce that 9 lawyers have been included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia™. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

Recently there have been changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (the Act), via the Family Law Amendment Act 2023 (FLAA) about parenting matters. Most of the changes as a result of the FLAA will take effect from 6 May 2024.

The Federal Treasurer has announced sweeping reforms to the merger laws following persistent pressure from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for reform.

This ruling from the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) serves as an important reminder for ensuring that discretionary trust deeds are appropriately amended to prevent the activation of "foreign" land transfer (stamp) duty and land tax surcharges

From 9 November 2023, consumers and small businesses have had increased protection from unfair contract terms contained in standard form contracts under the Australian Consumer Law and Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).  We wrote generally about these protections in our update Constructing a fair contract can save you millions.

From 1 July 2024, a new state taxes regime commences for certain commercial and industrial properties. Upfront land transfer (stamp) duty will be phased out in lieu of a new annualised Commercial and Industrial Property Tax (New Tax).

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.

Under the Australian Consumer Law and ASIC Act, the spotlight is now shining on unfair contract terms, and function venues, wineries and venue operators should take note.

A transfer of real property from a superannuation fund to a beneficiary of the fund

Stay legally on track with our free Terms & Conditions Traffic Light Review— green for compliance, red flags for caution.

When going through a separation, it is important that you and your former spouse formalise a final property settlement and take the necessary steps to ensure that your financial ties to each other are cut. However, the process of negotiating and ideally reaching an agreement for a property settlement, making it binding and then implementing the agreement can often take some time.

In a landmark move aimed at addressing the national housing crisis, the first tender for the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) is now open. The core objective of these programs is to finance new, high quality and well located social and affordable housing to address the current national housing crisis.

Harwood Andrews is thrilled to announce the addition of esteemed commercial and property lawyer, Briget O’Callaghan, and her colleague Evelyn Zeglinas, to its growing team. Briget and Evelyn bring a wealth of experience and a proven record of accomplishment to the firm, further solidifying its position as a leader in the property law space.

We are delighted to announce the promotion of Emma Buchanan, Emma has a long association with Harwood Andrews and has been of tremendous value-sharing focus between Property law and Precedents review and development. Please join us in congratulating Emma on this incredible achievement to special counsel.

The VCAT ruling of Baullo v Commissioner of State Revenue [2023] VCAT 1164 (Baullo), has reaffirmed the position of the State Revenue Office (SRO) that forgiving beneficiary loans in relation to a distribution of property from a discretionary trust to a beneficiary will prohibit utilisation of the exemption to land transfer (stamp) duty afforded by section 36A of the Duties Act 2000 (Act).

The ‘executor’s year’ is the general principle that the personal representatives of an estate, be it the executors or administrators (in the case of an intestacy), have one year from the date of death of the person whose estate is being administered, to administer the estate.

A binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) is a direction from a member of a superannuation fund to the trustee of the superannuation fund on how that person’s superannuation entitlements are to be paid or transferred on their death. In the absence of a BDBN, the trustee is not compelled to distribute the superannuation proceeds in accordance with the member’s wishes.

A caveat is an application that any person with a legal interest in a property can lodge with Land Use Victoria. In family law, caveats have therefore historically been used by a party to a separation who has an interest in a real property, but to which they are not on title.

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.

On 10 November 2023, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its first decision under sections 65B and 65C of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) which deals with disputes about requests for flexible working arrangements.

Separations can often be quite complex giving rise to many issues that result in family lawyers needing to collaborate with solicitors in other practice areas (such as commercial or superannuation law), but we can also be greatly assisted by the parties’ professional advisers.

From 9 November 2023, major amendments apply to the unfair contract term (UCT) regime. The UCT regime applies to standard form contracts entered with consumers and small businesses, and attracts significant penalties.

Not-for-profit organisations and charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) often engage in agreements and arrangements with individuals or entities with whom they share pre-established connections or a common interest, particularly when starting out.

Legislation in Victoria has now passed the Legislative Assembly to prohibit a vendor from passing on an existing land tax or windfall gains tax liability to a purchaser on sale of land. Subject to the legislation passing unamended in the Legislative Council and receiving Royal Assent, the changes will take effect 1 January 2024.