The great thing about being a lawyer interested in climate change is that we never run out of things to read. Here is a short list of some recent useful documents, in case you missed them. The United Nations Environment Program has released two important documents comparing what we are doing/promising and what we need...Read More

Law Council of Australia media release – 7 December 2020 The Law Council of Australia’s 2020 President’s Award has been presented to Queensland barrister, Stephen Keim SC, a champion of human rights in Australia and around the world. The President’s Award is awarded to an individual who has been an “outstanding example to the Australian...Read More

Australia is the only Western democracy without some form of a charter of rights at the national level, whether legislated by parliament, or entrenched by constitution. On 18 November 2020, Law Council President Pauline Wright and Stephen Keim SC addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on the topic ‘No time like the present to...Read More

The enforceability of building covenants is quite cumbersome in Queensland. Generally, they need to be enforced contractually. This can be very time consuming and costly. I was recently involved in a series of cases enforcing building covenants on a housing estate. Given the limited authorities relating to the enforcement of covenants in Queensland, I thought...Read More

Comparative constitutional law offers many opportunities to learn new insights and opportunities for future reforms, including for Australian lawyers dulled by a constitutional regime largely devoid of identified human rights. In stark contrast to Australia’s anemic constitutional regime, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Court of Justice recently identified 19 distinct human rights under the...Read More

In Berry v CCL Secure Pty Ltd [2020] HCA 27 misleading conduct caused the claimant to sign a contractual termination letter. All members of the court agreed in the result. An issue was the impact of a potential right to terminate the contract lawfully. The court clarified a number of matters relating to practice, and...Read More

Last week, Bell J dismissed an application for $90,000 security for costs against a small community group in long-running litigation that has now reached the High Court against the expansion of the New Acland Coal Mine on Queensland’s Darling Downs. In a narrow sense, the decision is an unexceptional application of well-established principles for security...Read More

On 18 August 2020 the Law Council of Australia hosted a brilliant public seminar by Zoom on one of the most important challenges to Australian society of our time: Indigenous Incarceration in the Norther Territory: Progress made since the Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the Northern Territory. The seminar was...Read More

An insightful and topical podcast dropped into podcast feeds in July 2020 with the release of “In my Country”, a podcast dedicated to telling the stories of six Aussies who came to Australia as refugees or asylum seekers. Host, Adam Wood speaks with Faisa, Alyas, Tenzin, Marcela, Liliana and Lago who tell their stories of...Read More

Waanyi and Kalkadoon Elder and champion for Indigenous rights Sandra Creamer’s admission to the legal profession in Queensland is inspiring. Her son and esteemed barrister, Joshua Creamer, moved her admission to practise — the first time in Queensland an Aboriginal barrister has moved the admission of their mother. Joshua described his mother as a “strong,...Read More