If you have recently found out that you are expecting a child either, by way of pregnancy or adoption or you are a partner of such a person, you should be aware of the pre-conditions/procedure, which you will be required to satisfy when requesting parental leave from your employer.

A Power of Attorney is a document through which a person (“the Donor”) grants the power to another person by appointing that person as “the Attorney” to carry out the Donor’s wishes and act on their behalf with respect to financial and legal decisions, medical issues and general welfare matters, in the event that the Donor becomes incapable of making those decisions.

The Rudd Government has released The National Employment Standards (“The NES”) on 20 June 2008. The NES will apply to all employees in the Federal system regardless of industry, occupation or income.

This article is designed to assist Australian investors and business operators exploring the opportunities for doing business in Labuan, Malaysia.

The issue of the ownership of rights to copyrightable works or patentable inventions has come up frequently in matters referred to us by our clients. This memorandum is intended bring to light some of the issues in the law in this area. It should not be treated as constituting legal advice and should not to be relied upon exclusively as a guide to future conduct. Should any reader believe any issue described herein directly affects them, they should seek professional legal advice on the appropriate course of action.

On 27 June 2005 the Supreme Court of the United States of America in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc and Others v Grokster Ltd and Another, 64 IPR 645 (SCUS, 2005) (‘Grokster’) handed down a landmark decision in the music industry's fight against on-line distribution networks for copyrighted works. This case note examines and compares the current status of the law in the US and Australia with respect to secondary infringement of copyright. On the basis of this analysis, the elements of the decision in Grokster and the cases leading up to it (‘the Grokster litigation’) applicable to Australian copyright law will be identified, and a conclusion will be drawn on this basis on the probable outcome of such a case in Australia.