Our Legal Blog

What happens if you get injured at work in Queensland?

Looking for direct information on what happens if you get injured at work? You’re not alone. Regulations around workplace injuries can be difficult to navigate. Connolly Suthers helps you find your way through when injured at work If you were injured at work and are not getting paid by your employer, you could be missing out on compensation that is rightfully yours. Queenslanders should enjoy the right to work without worrying about their safety and wellbeing. However, throughout the cours

By Ji Burton

The Dreaded D Word: Divorce

By Bo Ryan  No doubt at one point in your life you have heard someone say, “Jack and Jill are getting a divorce”. In most cases, Jack and Jill aren’t really getting a divorce, they are simply separating. In fact, many separated couples choose not to get divorced at all. In simple terms, a divorce is the termination of a marriage. A divorce is entirely separate to a property settlement. As you would expect, a property settlement is dealing with your financial affairs. A di

By Bo Ryan

SMSFs and Property Investments

The risks of investing in geared property by self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) is a topic that is regularly debated and whether (or not) it is really the right long-term decision for a member’s retirement.  It can be the right choice for some but it’s not for everyone.  Opportunities come with risks which are the same as any individual’s decision to make a personal property investment.  There are however some risks which are unique to SMSFs. There’s

By Paul Radford

The Casual Conversion Deadline Has Arrived

The new casual conversion deadline under the Fair Work Act ("the Act") is 27 September 2021. Any employers who employ casual employees should ensure that they have properly and carefully considered whether the new casual conversion rules will apply to one or more of their employees. Background In March 2021 the Act was amended to include a casual conversion entitlement for casual employees. This is now contained in the National Employment Standards of the Act. Further, for the first time, the A

By Brendan Gaeta

Can Employers Force Employees to get a COVID-19 Vaccination?

What a topical and often controversial discussion point this can be. We have seen various businesses in the local Townsville community take different approaches, including introducing workplace policies to make vaccination for employees compulsory, recommending that employee's be vaccinated, and even seen a business offer a Christmas bonus to employees who do not get vaccinated. The Australian Government released a Media Statement on 6 August 2021 stating that vaccinations against COVID-19 shoul

By Brendan Gaeta

Introduction of Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse

In September 2020 the Queensland Government introduced the Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. The legislation introduced a number of significant changes to the law in Queensland.    One of the key changes to the Queensland Criminal Code was the introduction of two new offences to the Code, namely section 229BB and s229BC of the Criminal Code The significance of these provisions is that mandatory reporting obligations, which already a

By Mathai Joshi

The Family and Federal Circuit Court Merger

As of 1 September 2021, the Family Court of Australia (FC) and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (FCC) will merge and become the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCA). The FCFCA will have two (2) divisions: Division 1 will include Judges of the prior Family Court and they will deal with the most complex matters; and Division 2 will include Judges of the prior Federal Circuit Court and this will be the single point of entry for family law and child support cases. All Appeal

By Bo Ryan

Los Desaparecidos Perdidos en el Limbo (or The Disappeared Lost in Limbo)

Los desaparecidos perdidos en el Limbo (or The Disappeared Lost in Limbo) Last week was National Missing Person’s Week. There are always very sad, compelling and complicated stories behind and beyond a snippet of news about someone that is missing that might happen to enter your orbit. The Way Whenever I hear about a missing person I think of the elderly couple the subject of the commercially successful hit song “The Way” (it was number one for seven weeks in 1998) written and

By Paul Radford

Is a Beneficiary of a Trust Entitled to Legally Privileged Trust Documents?

By Paul Radford When presented with this question many good lawyers would at first glance and without thinking it through probably answer “Good question…. The answer is “no”. Others lawyers that are more battled wearied may answer it with a question “Who would win a fight between a lion and a tiger?” which is another way of saying that old chestnut “it depends”.  There is no question that nearly all trustees will not want to release anything

The Great COVID19 Debate: To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate?

By Bo Ryan The world we live in is a very different place to what it was pre-COVID19. As the various COVID19 vaccinations roll out in the community, it is likely we will see an increase in disputes between parents about whether or not they should vaccinate their children. Currently in Australia, the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA) do not approve either the Pfizer nor the AstraZeneca vaccine for young children. However, as medicine improves, it may be that a new vaccine is created and, perh