NSW has become the first state to legislate national defamation reforms that aim to modernise the law in Australia and bring it more into line with leading overseas jurisdictions such as the UK. The Defamation Amendment Bill 2020 passed both houses of the NSW Parliament on Thursday, 6 August. The reforms, which were agreed upon […]
Most drivers would be unaware of an obscure rule that exists in NSW which gives police the power to issue a fine to drivers whose passengers engage in certain behaviour that has the potential to distract the driver. Driver distraction is a leading cause of motor vehicle accidents in Australia. According to Transport NSW, research […]
The NSW government has commenced rolling out mobile phone detection cameras across the state to enforce mobile phone laws. The mobile phone detection camera program will be introduced at 45 locations by the end of December. It follows a world-first six-month trial that captured images of 85 million cars and detected more than 100,000 drivers […]
If you were to enter another person’s land without their consent or without a lawful reason you would be trespassing. So what if you required access to your neighbour’s property to carry out work on your own land but they refused you access? What are your legal options? In NSW, the Local Court has the […]
According to statistics collated by Transport for NSW’s Centre for Road Safety, the number of road deaths in NSW per 100,000 population in 2017 was 4.94. This is a significant fall from 28.9 recorded in 1970 and is the fifth lowest fatality rate since records began in 1908. This vastly improved road fatality rate has […]
The NSW government has introduced tough new laws as part of its zero-tolerance approach to drink driving. What’s new? And from when? From 20 May 2019, police were given the power to suspend a person’s driver licence immediately for any drink driving offence. This now includes low-range drink driving offences. Previously, police could only issue […]
Earlier this year the NSW government introduced changes to parking fine laws that were designed to make the system fairer for motorists. The reforms are the result of a 2018 review by NSW Treasury of parking and other fines following community feedback. The two main changes are the introduction of a grace period for parking […]
On 11 December 2018, Cardinal George Pell was convicted of five charges relating to child sexual abuse in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne. As a former treasurer of the Vatican, his conviction made him the most senior member of the Catholic Church to be found guilty of child sexual abuse. The court case created […]
An exciting new era of public transport commenced in Newcastle on 17 February 2019 with the official opening of the city’s highly anticipated light rail network. With light rail services now underway, it is important for drivers, especially, to understand how to behave and be safe around trams and tram tracks. The following are some […]
On 28 October 2017, significant new driver disqualification laws came into force in New South Wales. Among the reforms was the abolition of the Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO) scheme. Under Division 3 (now repealed) of the Road Transport Act 2013, a person convicted of three major traffic offences within a 5-year period could be declared […]
