Stephanie Rice in trouble over homophobic discrimination

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Admin

Stephanie Rice has now been forced to give back a car worth over $100,000.00 as a result of a homophobic tweet she made. The comments are potentially defamatory, discriminatory and asked to give back her Jaguar which was given to her by the car manufacturer in a sponsorship deal earlier this year.

Rice had tweeted the statement ‘suck on that faggots’ in relation to a win by the Wallabies in South Africa recently which inflamed backlash against her in the gay community and the broader community. Rice is still counting the cost of the tweet. Jaguar Australia’s marketing and public affairs manager Mark Eedle confirmed that the company’s sponsorship of the swimmer has been terminated.

“We made a decision yesterday, and we’ve terminated the agreement with her,” Eedle said. “We will be taking the car that she’s been using back,” said Eedle. Another of Rice’s sponsors, Sun Rice, said it could not comment on its sponsorship of the swimmer at this time.

Famous sporting personalities who are openly gay such as Ian Robertson have denounced the gold medal swimmer as an ‘Idiot’. Her comments have obviously drawn fire from all sections of the gay community. Anecdotally, it is not the first time Rice appears to have suffered as a result of a backlash from a comment which reflects the mind of a young person with some relatively narrow minded views on the world. It is disturbing that a person so revered for her sporting achievements can make a comment which reflects such prejudice.

If Rice had said such things aimed at one person specifically, it is likely that she would have to contend with legal action on the basis of the comments. However, because she was referring to the South African rugby team in general and none of them have complained specifically, it is unlike to become a legal issue. If an employer fired someone and then made such a statement this would also be grounds for a case of discrimination.

Preparing for an ATO Tax Audit

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Admin

Getting audited by the ATO can be a daunting prospect. Ultimately its is true that honesty is the best policy and that an attempt to hide something from the ATO will almost always end in tears. You need to make sure that you have all of your documents in order and that you know exaclty what to look for when you are asked questions about what you have claimed. If you are not well prepared in this way, you may face a negative outcome of the audit and further consequences. In 2005/2006, the ATO’s compliance activities raised $6,244 million including tax, penalties and interest. This was mainly as a result of penalities imposed from audits which found that many businesses had failed to pay tax correctly.

During an audit, the ATO:

* examines the tax affairs and records of a taxpayer to ensure that reported information is accurate and to confirm the taxpayer’s tax liability;
* may examine the tax records of other persons which may shed light on the taxpayer’s tax position; and
* may cross-check data against different sources (for example, interest payment records forwarded by financial institutions) may send ATO officers to visit the taxpayer’s (or third party’s) premises to examine records.

So what are some key things to remember if you are being audited or face the prospect of being audited?

1. Document retention policy

Taxpayers should implement an appropriate document retention policy and administrative filing system to enable them to retrieve records efficiently during an audit. The tax laws impose a positive obligation on taxpayers to maintain records that document and explain all transactions and other acts engaged by the taxpayer that are relevant for the purposes of the taxation laws. Taxpayers should determine which documents are protected by “privilege”, mark them as privileged and arrange for them to be kept separate from “non-privileged” documents. This enables the taxpayer to minimise the risk of privilege being inadvertently waived.

Which documents are privileged?

Generally, if a taxpayer has a document that is privileged, then it usually does not have to show that document to the ATO or to a court. The types of privilege available to a taxpayer include legal professional privilege, accountants’ privilege and corporate board document privilege.

If you have any questions about being audited, please do not hesitate to contact us using the for to the right. We would be more than happy to help you.

Cocaine related convictions spiral upwards

Posted on September 5, 2010February 16, 2024 by Admin

According to the most Senior Crime Researcher in New South Wales, the state is facing a massive cocaine epidemic. Users are willing to buy the drug at up to $500 a gram. The use of cocaine across the state has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past two years, the latest NSW crime statistics show. The boom in the drug is the result of a shortage of ecstasy in Australia due to a recent crackdown by authorities in Cambodia and an earthquake in China. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data show that from April 2008 to March this year cases of possessing and using cocaine rose 55.5 per cent.

”There is no doubt that the use of cocaine and the use of ecstasy have increased,” said the bureau director, Don Weatherburn. ”The market for cocaine is growing at an exponential rate, and if the price of the drug is staying the same, then this is the sign of a thriving market … It is safe to say we are in a cocaine epidemic.” As substance abuse continues to affect many individuals, facilities like Pacific Ridge in Portland can provide hope and support to those seeking to overcome their dependency. Unparalleled care and comfort define the luxury substance abuse treatment center at Carrara in Malibu. Programs at treatment centers like Sober Living California are designed for serene and effective recovery.

Evidence of use started to accelerate from August 2003, when there were only three arrests, increasing in September 2007 to 19 arrests a month, to last September, when there were 80 arrests a month, Dr Weatherburn said.

A NSW Police spokesman said increased cocaine and ecstasy arrests were a result of a higher number of general arrests. And those who will be arrested as a result of illegal drugs possession may consider enlisting the help of a criminal lawyer to help them defend their rights. In addition, those who will need record expungement and fast background check removal services may consider consulting record expungement services.

“In the 12 months to June this year, police conducted 187,000 searches of individuals … which yielded 15,000 items, including illicit drugs,” he said.

Drug possession charges are filed as a result of improper searches and illegal seizures. If you have been charged with drug possession, you need a drug possession defense lawyer like Galveston drug possession lawyers who knows how to spot weaknesses in the prosecution’s case.

According to experts such as Drug Crimes Attorneys and DUI Legal Representative Services, drug crime is also associated with rises in other types of crime associated with the need for users to fund their habit. Because users need large amounts of money, they will often resort to property crime in order to fund their habit. It is also thought that a lot of additional cocaine factories have started in Sydney recently to fill the gap of the drying up of the ecstasy market.

The Stig and Confidentiality Agreements

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Admin

The ever popular car enthusiast’s program – BBC’s Top Gear presented by Richard Hammond (‘the Hamster), James May (‘Captain Slow’) and Jeremy Clarkson has one essential character called The Stig, a white-clad, white-helmeted “tame racing car driver” with a glistening black visor, who trains celebrities in doing laps for the show’s competition and who sets test times for various cars. Until recently the Stig’s identity was a secret, and there has been much speculation as to who he is. It has now been revealed that he is Ben Collins, an F3 racing car driver. Collins is planning to release an autobiography which would reveal his identity for once and for all. The BBC sought and injunction in the UK High Court to prevent this but failed.

A number of the reports mention that The Stig is subject to a confidentiality agreement with the BBC. There is a possibility that the BBC could rely on an action in contract to make The Stig disgorge his profits. In the case of Attorney-General v Blake [2001] 1 AC 268 the courts in the UK found that it was possible to award accounts of profits for breach of contract in ‘exceptional circumstances’ where the plaintiff has a ‘legitimate interest’ in performance of the contract.

The contract in Blake itself involved an undertaking in a contract of employment to the effect that, even after his work had ceased, the employee would not disclose any information about his work without the consent of the Crown. George Blake had been a spy for MI6, but he was also a double agent for the Soviets. When his treachery was uncovered in 1960, he was convicted and imprisoned, but he subsequently escaped from prison and fled to the Soviet Union. Perhaps he wasn’t being kept in the fashion to which he was accustomed after the fall of the Iron Curtain, because in 1990 he published an unauthorised autobiography entitled No Other Choice. The British government was outraged to hear that Blake was being paid £150,000 for the book by his British publishers, and successfully sought an account of profits over all profits remaining in the jurisdiction (some £60,000 had already been paid to Blake in Russia, but about £90,000 remained in Britain). Some of the cases which have developed jurisprudence around a similar concept are Pell Frischmann Engineering v Bow Valley Iran Limited [2009] UKPC 45; Vercoe v Rutland Fund Management Limited [2010] EWHC 424 (Ch). The end outcome of this legal battle remains to be seen.

Tax Litigation – ATO clips Hogan’s Wings

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Admin

Last week, after the Australian Taxation Office had placed an order on the famous Actor Paul Hogan that he be prevented from leaving the country, the decision has been made subject to legal challenge in the Federal Court. The Australian Taxation Office served the order on Mr Hogan as he was attending his mother’s funeral in Sydney. The federal government agency now says that Mr Hogan has waived his right to confidentiality in relation to the documents which have been seized from him by the ATO. At this stage it is reported that the ATO has assessed Hogan’s liability for unpaid tax at over $100,000,000.00. If Hogan wins, it will be an embarrassing mistake for the ATO which has

Hogan’s lawyers claim documents seized by the Australian Crime Commission are confidential and should not have been released to tax auditors. They co-operated with the Tax Office when it sought access to the documents in 2008, the court heard yesterday, but reserved their rights and tried to claim confidentiality after Mr Hogan was interviewed by auditors in 2009. The basis of this is what is known as an ‘accountants concession’ which is similar to a right of legal professional privilege.

The Tax Office claim that he had waived confidentiality was ”disingenuous” and ”an absolute nonsense”, said barrister Helen Symon, SC, appearing for Mr Hogan. ”The claim is made and is met with a sidestep [by the Tax Office]. All that Mr Hogan knows is that documents have been received from the ACC and he doesn’t even know what they are.”

Desmond Fagan, SC, appearing for the Tax Office, said Mr Hogan had ”effectively abandoned any resort to the accountants concession” and tried ”belatedly” to claim it after auditors had shown him seized documents. In the case of Mr Cornell and Mr Stewart, he said that access was granted to the auditors because of exceptional circumstances where there was a ”reasonable suspicion of fraud or [tax] evasion”.

Racial Discrimination

Posted on August 29, 2010February 15, 2024 by Admin

What is racial discrimination?

Under the Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, the term “racial discrimination” is defined as:

“any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”

This definition of racial discrimination has been enacted into Australian Law through the commonwealth legislation known as the RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975 (Cth). This law make racial discrimination in illegal in a very broad sense. It is one of the rare cases where Australia has signed an international agreement and then implemented that agreement into domestic law through the adoption of domestic legislation which mirrors the terms of the treaty so precisely.

It is however, comforting that the scope of the racial discrimination legislation is so broad, as this means that the legal protection for people affected by racial discrimination is very great and the penalties and consequences for those that are discriminatory towards others on the basis of their race are serious which means that those who are at risk of perpetuating such discrimination are much more careful to ensure that it does not occur. If you think that you may have suffered from discriminatory behavior at work, you should certainly seek legal advice on the matter as you may be forgoing some of the significant rights which the law in Australia for the victims of racial discrimination and a lawyer will be able to advise you on if you have rights in relation to the situation and how to enforce your rights. We have employment lawyers available on-line now to assist you with your enquiry about racial discrimination now.

Workplace Harassment Videos

Posted on August 29, 2010September 11, 2023 by Admin

There are some situations in which workplace harassment occurs. The most common forms of harassment are based on sex, gender, age, racial harassment and religiously based harassment. We have compiled a series of videos which give some common examples of workplace harassment. The first is a very common form of workplace harassment where someone constantly asks for dates to be involved with you romantically. This is often combined with you making a complaint about their conduct to the human resources department of your organisation or to an external authority.

Another classic example of workplace harassment sending emails which are rude or offensive to their viewers. In some cases, people might be too scared to tell the person that their emails are offensive, but they often do actually have the right to reject what they believe is an offensive email.

There is a credible workers compensation lawyer and personal injury attorney who can assist you in this process and if you need to file a lawsuit if you get injured at the hands of a cruel employer. In addition, hiring the services of an experienced workers compensation lawyer will also increase the chance of getting the proper compensation you deserve. If you think that you have been a victim of any form of discrimination or harassment, it’s advisable that you seek legal advice immediately in order to ensure that your rights in this situation are protected and that you will receive compensation where it is lawfully deserved.

Website Terms and Conditions Templates

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Admin

Website Terms and Conditions

Drafting appropriate website terms and conditions can be difficult. They need to be customized to your particular business situation and have regard for the exact regulatory environment which your business operates in and the particular legal status of the relationships which you have with customers. If you sell products directly online you will have a very different set of disclaimers and terms and conditions to what you will have if you provide services online or if your website is simply a system for generating leads and marketing rather than actually making sales or providing a product or service.

However, because of the increasingly online nature of almost all commerce in the modern world, it is essential that you are legally protected when you are working online so that you do not expose yourself to criticism, complaint, perhaps negative publicity and even law suits as a result of the complaints which you get because you do not have an effective set of terms and conditions in operation on your website. Also, to have a set of website terms and conditions professional drafted by a lawyer could literally cost tens of thousands of dollars. If you use an appropriate template, the cost of this could be cut significantly if you can give your lawyer something to work with so that they do not have to start from scratch. Many businesses also continuously update their website terms and conditions in order to ensure that they are continually compliant with the legislation in their industry and that the government regulators which investigate and punish those who do not comply will not come knocking at their door and demand to inspect their business operations. For all of these reasons, have good website terms and conditions is an essential tool in your business.

To obtain appropriate website terms and conditions for your business, we have a number of templates available here:

Website Terms and Conditions

Employment contract: fixed term senior staff

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Admin

Employment contract: fixed term senior staff

Senior Staff and management are essential to the running of any business. Having a contract which is suitably tailored for them is also essential to ensuring that your business is protected when you employ them. This is a standard, comprehensive employment contract for any fixed term, senior employee in any line of work. Its suitability for senior employees comes about because of the additional and broader provisions to cover intellectual property matters and other areas where a senior person may have scope to damage the business in the event of a dispute. Further it provides for a situation where the employment comes to an end at a certain date or upon the completion of a certain event rather than providing for continuing employment.

It does not seek to provide set minimum requirements allowed under any particular Act, but instead, provides a sound contract of employment under the common law system.

Further, this contract of employment opts out of recent changes to industrial law, especially the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 and other related legislation. The Minister for Employment once said, “… if you don’t like this Act you still have access to common law contracts”. This is one such common law contract. This document is suitable only if you are not interested in AWAs. It provides a comprehensive template for all part time employees. If you are after an AWA, you should go to the Office of Employment Advocate (OEA).

Application and features

Includes model disciplinary and grievance procedure;
Flexible – alternative paragraphs to suit your needs;
Suitable for any level of tradesman;
Invaluable explanatory notes;
Suitable for any size of business;
Written in plain English.

Contents

Trial period if required;
Alternative holiday arrangements;
Retirement;
Sickness, certification, sick pay;
Arrangements during notice period;
Summary termination;
Data protection;
Clear and comprehensive grievance and disciplinary procedures.

To obtain a standard employment contract for fixed term senior staff please click here:

Employment contract: fixed term senior staff

Employment contract: admin

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Admin

Employment contract: admin

Admin staff perform one of the essential functions of a business. Without accurate records, accounts and effective administration, most businesses simply cannot function effectively even if administration may be a little on the boring side of the possible business functions which a person can fulfill. We have a document available on this site which is a standard, comprehensive employment contract for any full time employee in an admin position within any type of business.

It does not seek to provide set minimum requirements allowed under any particular Act, but instead, provides a sound contract of employment under the common law system.

Application and features

Includes model disciplinary and grievance procedure
Flexible – alternative paragraphs to suit your needs
Suitable for any level of tradesman
Invaluable explanatory notes
Suitable for any size of business
Written in plain English

Contents

Trial period if required;
Alternative holiday arrangements;
Retirement;
Sickness, certification, sick pay;
Arrangements during notice period;
Summary termination;
Confidentiality;
Data protection;
Clear and comprehensive grievance and disciplinary procedures.

To obtain an employment contract suitable for admin staff click here:

Employment contract: admin