Szabo & Associates News & Updates

A family from the Currans Hill area of Sydney has successfully defended their right to keep a caravan-like structure in their backyard, reports Domain News. 

Domestic or family violence is an issue of considerable concern to family lawyers. Family violence can impact in a number of ways, for example, in custody proceedings. It can encompass various forms of abusive behaviour including physical, sexual, emotional, social and economic.

Szabo & Associates, Solicitors have from time to time highlighted the issue of elder abuse, most recently in Understanding Elder Abuse in Australia and National Plan to Address Elder Abuse, the latter which announced a national plan to address the issue of a complex and seemingly growing problem. Recently too it was reported that New South Wales will trial a new support programme for older people suffering abuse especially at the hands of carers and family. The Government announced $150,000 to pay for case workers to offer assistance to victims beyond the normal referral system helping to coordinate police, health, cultural and community services. Under the trial, callers will be referred to other agencies and followed up. The trial, which began in March, picks up from similar programmes in the USA, Canada and New Zealand. It was reported that more than 7,000 calls were made to the hotline between its launch in 2013 and December 2017. There were 2,130 calls to the hotline in 2016-17 up from 1,200 in 2013-14.

There is currently no clear or consistent answer in Australia to the question of what should happen to someone’s digital assets after they die or otherwise become incapacitated. 

Following the announcement in September last year that the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) had been commissioned to carry out a comprehensive review of family law in Australia, the ALRC has now published an Issues Paper and is calling for submissions from the public.