Queensland stamp duty changes

The Queensland Government has announced a range of new concessions will apply to real estate transactions on or after May 1, instead of July 1 as originally planned.

People buying a first home worth up to $250,000 will pay no stamp duty and no mortgage duty - a saving of $3000.

The amendments will:

• Raise the threshold for the stamp duty rebate from $80,000 to $250,000.

• Raise the First-Home Buyers Mortgage Duty exemption from $100,000 to $250,000.

• Introduce a new incremental rebate system for purchases above $250,000, phasing out the stamp duty rebate at $500,000 instead of $160,000.

Treasurer Mr Mackenroth said legislative amendments would be introduced into Parliament on March 18 and become the second Bill to be debated after the controversial land-clearing reforms.

Mr Mackenroth said the amendments would provide relief to "almost all" first-home purchases and housing prices would be monitored to determine whether the thresholds should be raised.

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Employee Records Privacy

The Australian Government has released a discussion paper on employee records privacy.

The paper deals with :
· whether there is a need for additional measures to ensure privacy protection of employee records;
· whether additional measures would impose administrative and financial burdens on
employers; and
· the means by which additional measures, if any, should be implemented.

The discussion paper examines the current level of privacy protection for employee records in privacy legislation and workplace relations legislation. It also examines some concerns raised about the privacy of employee records and suggests options for enhancing that privacy.

Federal Privacy Commissioner, Malcolm Crompton has welcomed the release of the paper.

"There needs to be discussion and debate about privacy protection for employee records. The Privacy Act does not currently cover employee records and this is a chance for people to express their views about this.

"Employee records often contain sensitive information such as sick leave and wage records and it is important that we get the privacy balance right in this area."

 
Electronic Document Retention Policies

This article discusses some practical issues regarding management of electronic records. Although the law in Australia is different (see our recent article), the file management issues are the same once you have established which records must be kept and which can be deleted.

 
What's a blog?

Francis Wilkins at Lawyers Weekly gives a useful summary of blogging and refers to this page.

 
More on Free Trade Agreement

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's speech to the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property and Agriculture Conference on 13 February gives some further details of the FTA impact on intellectual property law in Australia.

 
Email Lessons

This article sets out the biggest email blunders of 2003: from using work email for personal use at Enron to attempted destruction of emails in a company under investigation. (If you haven't read it yet, go to our document retention page.)

 
Spam Act Guidelines

NOIE has released guidelines developed by it that will assist businesses in complying with the Spam Act 2003.

This guide provides practical information to businesses that send electronic messages. It explains the main requirements of the Spam Act 2003, and outlines business practices that comply with the legislation.

The Act commences on 11 April 2004.

 
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New Queensland Cabinet announced
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Premier Beattie has announced his new Cabinet for his third term in government.

 
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Ticketmaster Privacy Breach
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The Privacy Commissioner has issued a Media Release concerning a privacy breach by Ticketmaster and expressing concern at the general delay by business in on-line privacy compliance.

In December last year it came to the Commissioner's attention that the personal information of people contacting Ticketmaster7 was being exposed via their web site.

Due to a coding error on the Ticketmaster7 web site, it was possible to access the personal information of people who had made online enquires of Ticketmaster7 simply by changing the last four digits in the web address.

Upon hearing of the alleged security hole, the Office began an investigation into the alleged security breach. Once it verified that customer information was indeed vulnerable, the Office contacted Ticketmaster7 to make them aware of the problem. Ticketmaster7 acted immediately by closing down the vulnerable web service.

The Commissioner found that Ticketmaster7 did breach the federal Privacy Act. However, he commended them on their quick response to the privacy breach. He said he was satisfied with the measures that Ticketmaster7 have put in place since the problem was discovered.

"I am disappointed that businesses, covered by the Privacy Act for over 2 years, are still making fundamental errors," said Federal Privacy Commissioner, Malcolm Crompton.

"I caution all companies to ensure they are meeting their obligations under the Privacy Act especially when it comes to their on-line activities. There is no longer any excuse for not having privacy built into information technology system re-design and or upgrades," he said.

 
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Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
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On 8 February 2004, in Washington D.C., Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile concluded an agreed text for the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement with his US counterpart, Trade Representative Bob Zoellick.

It covers 17 areas of industry and business issues including Intellectual Property.

Amongst other things, the current Australian copyright period of 50 years after the author's death will be extended to 70 years to match the US laws.

Academic Kim Weatherall comments here.

 
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GST and edible chocolate body paint
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ATO Interpretative Decision 2004/38 makes it clear that edible chocolate body paint is a taxable supply. It is not a GST-free supply of food as, amongst other reasons, it is supplied as a novelty to be applied to the human body. The fact that this product is edible and consists of ingredients common to various chocolate sauces does not change the nature of the supply.

 
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Retirement Research
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New research commissioned by Westpac Banking Corporation from ASFA claims it has identified for the first time exactly how much it costs for Australians to have a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.

The Westpac-ASFA Retirement Living Standard benchmarks the annual budget needed by Australians to pay for a comfortable standard of living in the post-work years. It will be updated quarterly to reflect inflation.

The research results show that:
• to achieve a "comfortable retirement lifestyle", a couple needs an annual income of $43,350 and a single person needs $32,800;
• to achieve a "modest retirement lifestyle", a couple will need $23,550 each year and singles $16,930.

 
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Proposed New Tree Clearing Laws
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The Premier has stated that an Act banning tree clearing from 2006 will be his Government's first priority when Parliament resumes in March.

Rural groups such as Agforce are not happy.

 
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Queensland 2004 State Election Result
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The Beattie Labor Government has been returned with a slightly smaller (but still significant) majority. It is predicted by the ABC that the Government will have 63 out of the 89 seats in the State parliament.

More details from the Queensland Electoral Commission.

 
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Phishing Warning
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What is phishing (pronounced "fishing")? It refers to email scams whose purpose is identity theft. Identity thieves send mass fraudulent email messages with return addresses, links, and branding that appear to come from credit card companies, banks and insurers. These messages are designed to "phish" for personal and financial information (e.g. passwords, usernames, social security numbers, credit card numbers, mother's maiden name, etc.) from the recipient and thereby allow fraudulent transactions. For examples, see www.anti-phishing.org and the Australian Bankers Association media release.

 
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We've been mentioned
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Practice Source reckons we are the first publically accessible blog written by an Australian lawyer!!!

 
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Warning against illegal schemes offering early access to super benefits
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have jointly warned the public against using illegal schemes promising access to their superannuation before retirement.

Deputy Commissioner of Taxation, Mr Mark Jackson, said that under the scam, promoters urge people to set up a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) into which they roll their preserved superannuation. The client is told that as trustee of the SMSF they can decide how its assets are spent.

"The promoter then charges a commission, usually 20 per cent or more of the fund's assets, for their services," Mr Jackson said.

"If people need early access to their superannuation on compassionate or extreme financial hardship grounds, they do not need to pay a promoter."

Legal early access to superannuation can be obtained by:

1. The trustee of a superannuation fund releasing money on grounds of financial hardship if the member satisfies very strict criteria set out in the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act.

2. Early payment on compassionate grounds being approved by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which processes applications, free of charge, if the applicant meets strict legislative requirements.

Mr Jackson said the ATO, ASIC and the superannuation industry are working closely to put a stop to these promoters and their schemes.

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10 most important business ideas of 2003
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Dave Pollard's blog How to Save the World contains a stimulating article on 10 new important business ideas and trends. There's a focus on innovation and entrepreneurialism.

 
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Cross-border e-commerce complaints
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Agencies from 17 countries, including Australia, have launched a website to gather and share cross-border e-commerce complaints to enhance
consumer protection and confidence in online shopping.

The public web site provides general information and contact
details for consumer protection authorities in all participating
countries, as well as a complaint form.