Hope Island is one of the Gold Coast’s most exclusive suburbs. Home to an enclave of exclusive housing estates, such as Sanctuary Cove and Hope Island Resort, with several world class golf courses meandering in between.
The property website Domain are currently running a series of articles on selling a property, covering aspects from presentation and market advise, to sales tactics and the conveyancing process itself.
Brisbane came alive this weekend for the annual Teneriffe Festival. The streets were lined with a festival of food, markets and entertainment.
So you’ve spent countless weekends scouring the suburbs of Brisbane, or the Gold Coast for that perfect property and you think you’ve finally found ‘the one’ and are ready to put in an offer and sign a contract of sale. It’s right about now that you need to tap the brakes every so slightly. There’s no point rushing in and signing your name, as the entire conveyancing process will be dictated by this contract, so you want to make sure you’ve got it right before signing.
So you’ve had your property on the market for a while and have now signed a contract of sale and sold your property. First of all congratulations on the sale! While getting that offer may be exciting at first, we’re sure that a bit of stress is beginning to creep into your mind as you start to consider the long list of things you now have to take care.
As a business owner it is important that you take proper care with the packaging of your goods and any claims you make as to the country of origin of the goods. Labeling is tightly regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”). If your goods are incorrectly labeled your business can face serious consequences for making false or misleading claims as to the origin of the goods.
Advertising your small business online is definitely the way to go these days, with potential to reach a large audience with a much smaller outlay than traditional media. With this in mind we thought we’d highlight a recent move by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) as a word of warning to business owners.
When starting a new business there are three basic structures to choose from; a sole trader, a partnership, or a company, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages. When you choose a company as the structure for your business you will become a shareholder in that company with the other people you go into business with.
Are you a small business owner? Do you use social media as a tool in marketing your business? If you answered yes to these questions then you might not be aware that you are in fact in the eyes of the law considered to be a publisher and that the same media laws that apply to professions such as journalism also apply to you and the things you say online.
Everything is in the cloud now (as the saying goes). Technology is a huge part of a business operations, whether it be email communication with staff and customers, the use of cloud-based software, or marketing through social media platforms, there is now a huge potential for a business owner to unknowingly breach their obligations under the Privacy Act.
The Federal Government has released information about proposed changes that are to be made to the Trade Practices (Industry Codes – Franchising) Regulation 1998. The proposed amendments are expected to take effect from 1 January 2015 and apply to new franchise agreements entered into on or after 1 January and existing franchise agreements renewed on or after 1 January, with some limited exceptions.
Have you ever read a contract and seen that paragraph that states, "this contract is governed by the law of.." and wondered what it meant. This concept is referred to as "forum shopping" and refers to where a corporation chooses a favourable jurisdiction or court for a dispute to be heard. A common definition of forum shopping is; "Selection by a plaintiff of the court of justice best suited to the plaintiff's needs by reason of commercial, legal or personal advantage."
