Everything to do with non-family relationships or crime, including: contracts, consumers, finance, insurance, bankruptcy, wills, estates, disability, adults with impaired capacity, injury, mental health, sport, employment, neighbourhood, tenancy, clubs and associations, defamation, copyright, discrimination, immigration, coronial matters, complaints to an ombudsman, human rights and other disputes concerning civil, personal, business and / or government.

When consumer rights apply:

Personal or household use
Products and services that are normally bought for personal or household use are covered by consumer guarantees.

Business use
A business can be a consumer too. A product or service bought for business use is covered by consumer guarantees, when it meets at least one of the following conditions:

• it costs less than $100,000 including GST
• it is a product or service commonly bought for personal, domestic or household use
• the good is a vehicle or trailer that is used mainly to transport goods on public roads.

However, there are some exceptions. Even when meeting one of these conditions, a product is not covered by consumer guarantees when it’s purchased:

• for resupply
• for use or transformation in production or manufacturing, or
• to repair or treat other goods.

Insurance is a contract between an insurer and the insured by which, in exchange for money (the premium), the insurer agrees to cover (indemnify) the insured to the extent of the agreement.

Insurance should be considered as risk management for any peril that may threaten the financial wellbeing of the insured. Insuring against fire damage or motor vehicle third party property liability for example may give relatively inexpensive peace of mind. One benefit of taking out appropriate liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, or directors and officers insurance, may be to cover all or some of the cost of legal representation, should the insured be sued for damages and have to defend a claim after an insured risk occurs.

There may be an obligation to insure provided in legislation (e.g. for employers and registered health practitioners) or by contract (e.g. for tenants, a person obtaining finance to purchase a motor vehicle or a mortgagor).

Where a person is injured as a result of the actions of another person or persons, an entitlement to compensation for the injury can arise.

There are general principles that apply to claims for compensation for injuries, and particular rules that apply to the most common types of personal injuries claims including those arising out of motor vehicle accidents, accidents at work and defective premises or defective products.

The plaintiff is the person who starts the proceedings in a court to obtain damages for personal injury, and the defendant is the person who is sued for the damages.

The legislation relating to claims for personal injuries is updated regularly, and it is recommended that plaintiffs or defendants consult a lawyer with specialist qualifications or experience in personal injury law.

Otherwise known as Guardianship and Administration.

Making decisions is an important part of life as those decisions may impact upon a person’s wellbeing, lifestyle, financial position and property. A person’s ability to make decisions expresses their individuality and control over their life. However, the law recognises that adults may not always have the capacity to make their own decisions (decision-making ability). Substitute decision regimes provide systems for adults with impaired decision-making capacity by which choices can still be made.

It is important to note that the various substitute decision regimes do not prevent the involvement of informal or unauthorised networks in the decision-making processes for an adult with impaired decision-making capacity.

A will is a document that sets out the wishes of the testator regarding the distribution of their estate upon their death. Since a will must meet certain formal requirements and the law of wills has many pitfalls, it is highly advisable to consult a solicitor, the Office of the Public Trustee or a private trustee company about drafting a will. If the formal requirements are not complied with, costly legal proceedings, including applications to court, may result.

The law in Queensland relating to wills and intestacy is substantially contained in the Succession Act 1981 (Qld).

The professionalisation and commercialisation of sport has meant that many organisations that previously were amateur and driven by principles of recreation are now components of an industry and have to consider their legal and commercial position. This industry stretches from catering to casual participants to fully professional athletes, and the same spectrum applies for management of sporting organisations.

Virtually every area of law has some application to a sporting context, and other chapters in this book may need to be consulted to provided more depth on the specific principles involved. Areas of law include: torts, crime, intellectual property, discrimination, dispute resolution, contracts, and employment.

It is important that all employees have a good understanding of the unique nature of the employer/employee relationship and what their rights and obligations within that relationship might be.

First and foremost, an employment relationship is a contractual one, freely entered into between the employer and the employee. Like all personal contracts that are entered into voluntarily, the parties have a large amount of latitude with which to determine for themselves what terms and conditions will govern the employment relationship.

Of course it is generally the case that the employer is in a far stronger bargaining position than the employee, and there may often be no genuine sense of bargaining. Rather, a prospective employee will often be presented with a set of terms and conditions with little room to discuss, let alone negotiate.

In addition to and sometimes instead of a written contract, the employment relationship will often be regulated by either an industrial award or a collective or enterprise agreement.

Common neighbourhood disputes such as disagreements about fences, barking dogs, trees, damage, odour, noisy parties and other problems can be solved in various ways.

Neighbours should try to discuss the problem with each other. It is possible to use a mediator to help try to come to an agreement if both neighbours agree. Where a neighbour is in fear of another neighbour, mediation will not be an appropriate solution.

If neighbours are unable to resolve the matter by discussion (and mediation does not help), then an aggrieved neighbour may be able to complain to a relevant authority or take legal action.

Before making a complaint or taking legal action, the aggrieved neighbour should find out their neighbour’s full name. Ways to find out the name include asking the neighbour directly (if it is safe to do so), asking another neighbour or investigating if the neighbour’s landlord, real estate agent or the local council will share it. If the neighbour is the registered owner of the land, it is possible to pay for a current title search of the neighbour’s address, which will also show the name of the landowner.

Complaints to councils or police can be made in many neighbourhood disputes, including disputes about noise on residential premises.

If making a complaint does not improve the situation, or if there is no authority that deals with the relevant dispute, people can consider taking legal action against their neighbour.

For dividing fences matters, obtaining peace and good behaviour orders, most boundary disputes and some other proceedings (including some nuisance matters), there is currently no government authority able to assist.

Legal action should be a last resort in dealing with a neighbourhood dispute. Legal action can be expensive and is unlikely to improve relationships between neighbours.

A contract to buy or sell a home is the most important contract most people will ever make.

Before approaching real estate agents or sellers, buyers should carefully consider the steps to take when a suitable home is found. It is important to avoid being drawn in by strong pressure to sign a contract immediately.

The proposed contract should be shown to a solicitor before signing. A solicitor can advise on many things including the form of the contract and relevant clauses, finance, mortgage terms, questions of joint ownership and any problems relating to the state of the property.

Similarly, maintaining a home and undertaking repairs or renovations can be significant aspects of life.

When deciding to build or to renovate, a person needs to develop a clear idea of what work is required before approaching a building contractor for a quote. Uncertainty about exact requirements can cause delay and even additional costs.

Rental agreements, whether they are for residential tenancies or rooming accommodation, are made between the lessor or provider and the tenant or resident.

Once an agreement is signed there are a number of rights and responsibilities the tenants, lessors, residents, providers and agents have to adhere to.

These are set out in the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld).

In Queensland, a claim for defamation may be made by a living person, a not-for-profit corporation or a corporation with less than 10 employees if a defamatory matter is published by another person (including a large corporation).

Whether a matter is defamatory is a question of fact to be determined by a court considering a number of judicial principles such as whether the relevant person’s reputation was negatively affected, whether they experienced undesirable behaviour of others towards them or whether they have been shunned, ridiculed or hated because of the matter published.

The information in this chapter is intended as a general overview and is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice. A person concerned about defamation should seek specific advice from a solicitor.

Copyright law protects the expression of ideas or information provided they are original and reduced into what is known as material form. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea or information but only the expression of the idea or information.
Copyright provides the copyright owner with an alienable economic right to control reproductions and other uses of their works.

As copyright is personal property, copyright can be sold (assigned) or licensed to a third party.

Typically, moral rights are defined in opposition to copyright. Moral rights provide specific protection to authors, their reputation and, in some cases, the work itself. Moral rights are personal to the creator and serve to protect the reputation of the author. They are non-economic rights that are distinct from copyright and are often justified on similar non-economic grounds. Unlike copyright, an author’s moral rights cannot be sold or licensed; however, an author may consent to infringements of their moral rights.

In Australia, the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) sets out the rights and obligations of copyright owners and copyright users. The aim of the legislation is to balance the rights of creators with the need of the public to access and use copyright works.

The main law governing immigration in Australia is the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Migration Act), the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (Migration Regulations), delegated legislation and ministerial directions, and policy such as the Procedures Advice Manual 3. The Department of Home Affairs website offers a wide range of information about the migration process.

Immigration is a constantly changing area of law and the following information is only a general and simplified overview at a specified time, and it is possible it may have changed. Migration advice from a qualified professional should be obtained that is specific to an individual’s circumstances. Only registered migration agents can give immigration assistance and advice. Lawyers also have to be registered as migration agents to give immigration assistance.

Non-profit community groups such as sporting clubs, charities, interest groups and community associations can be formally incorporated and recognised by the law.

The governing legislation is the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld) and the Associations Incorporation Regulation 1999 (Qld).

The Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General is responsible for administering this Act and incorporating associations, and does so through the Office of Fair Trading.

The Office of Fair Trading maintains a website with digital forms and factsheets, and further material is also available from the Queensland University of Technology and Community Door.

Most professionals have codes of conduct, ethics and professional standards with which they are required to comply.

Making a complaint can help a client or customer to resolve their problem or concern, and may help the professional to provide a better service in the future.

The procedure of making and resolving complaints about professionals, such as doctors, dentists, engineers and accountants, differs for each profession and specific problems warrant expert advice.

Administrative law refers to the law to be followed by governments when acting and making decisions.

Administrative law exists in the common law (court-made law) and in the internal policy and legislation that binds government. It refers to the rules and procedures that regulate the conduct of government when undertaking administration, ensuring government applies the law correctly and acts fairly when making decisions.

Central to administrative law are systems of accountability for government decision making. A person adversely affected by a reviewable government decision or action may seek administrative review by:

• following an internal merit review process within the government agency
• making a complaint to an external complaint-handling organisation
• bringing an administrative appeal in an administrative tribunal
  commencing judicial review
• proceedings in a court.

Each administrative review option has benefits and disadvantages.

Judicial review is the most complex option. It has emerged from common (court-made) law as a set of grounds on which a court may review the administrative actions of government. Judicial review is usually focused on legal errors in the administrative decision-making process rather than the substance or merit of the decision itself. Proceedings must be commenced in the Supreme Court of Queensland or, for Commonwealth matters, in the Federal Court or Federal Circuit and Magistrates Court. Court proceedings for judicial review generally involve considerable expense, carry the risk of a costs order being made against an unsuccessful party, are time consuming and may eventually lead only to the same decision being made again.

In an effort to avoid the necessity for court proceedings, merits (or administrative) review processes have been developed as a review option for some government decisions. Pursued through internal review processes and administrative tribunals, merits review is generally faster, less complicated and carries less of a costs risk than judicial review. The Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has wide powers to review Commonwealth administrative decisions, while in Queensland the Queensland Civil Appeals Tribunal (QCAT) has jurisdiction to review certain decisions made by Queensland Government administrative officials.

There are also external complaint-handling organisations with oversight over some government decision making, including the Queensland Ombudsman and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. In Queensland, if a person believes that a government department or other public entity has failed to consider their human rights when acting or making a decision, a human-rights complaint may be an additional option alongside any administrative law remedy.

The ombudsman’s function is to receive and investigate complaints about the administrative actions of agencies. An administrative action is any action about a matter of administration and includes a decision, an act and an omission or failure to act. The ombudsman has the power to investigate complaints for which no other remedy is available.

Any type of complaint can be made to the ombudsman, whether it concerns the legality of an administrative action, a decision or its merits. The ombudsman cannot investigate certain administrative actions and has the discretion to refuse to investigate in other circumstances.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman is created by the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cth) and the Queensland Ombudsman is created by the Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld).