Holman Webb is delighted to announce our inclusion in Australasian Lawyer’s Fast Firms List for 2016. 

Click here to read the full article in the latest edition of the Australasian Lawyer magazine.

CCTV, videos and photos in health, aged care and retirement living and disability is becoming more of an issue following the increase in the use of social media and disturbing media reports of a “secret camera” capturing the alleged abuse of an elderly man in an Adelaide nursing home in July 2016.

Unfortunately, we live in a world today where terrorist attacks have become far too common. Counter-terrorism strategies and tactics are rightly in the consciousness of governments, employers and the public at large in the wake of attacks in Kenya, Beirut, Paris, Nice and many other locations around the world which experienced massive losses of life by the actions of extremists (not to mention the numerous shootings, bombings, and bio-attacks that continue to take place). In August 2016 there was a terrorist attack on a Pakistan hospital which killed more than 50 people.23  Locally, we have had our own challenges with the loss of life arising from the Martin Place Siege and attack on NSW Police Headquarters in Parramatta.

– Australian Consumer Law – Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act 2015

The Neurofen Case - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Reckitt Benckiser (Australia) Pty Limited (No 4) [2015] FCA 1408

Most readers of this article would be familiar with the Nurofen specific pain products, each being labelled Nurofen Back Pain, Period Pain, Migraine Pain, or Tension Headache, as these products have been marketed in that manner in Australia since about 2006.

Cannabis, as a narcotic, is currently regulated under a myriad of Commonwealth and State laws, including the following:

• Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth);
• Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 (Cth);
• State and Territory laws, including the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW);
• State and Territory laws which deal with poisons and therapeutic goods, such as Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW); and
• Access to Medicinal Cannabis Act 2016 (Vic).

– Maiocchi v Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (No.4) [2016] FCA 33

In the New South Wales Supreme Court in Application of a Local Health District: Re a Patient Fay [2016] NSWSC 624, Fay, a pregnant 19 year old woman with an intellectual disability with placental haematoma and progressive renal failure, was warned by her doctors that she was at significant risk of permanent cerebral damage and possibly death if her pregnancy continued. The medical advice had recommended that the pregnancy be terminated to allow more effective control of her blood pressure. It was made known that the foetus would not live if intervention occurred. She signed a consent form stating that if specific medical events were to cause impending death, then the baby would be delivered even if the baby’s life was at stake. Her doctors desired to treat her immediately instead of waiting for one of Fay’s nominated treatment-accepted events to occur.

Private hospital operators conduct their business in a competitive environment and competition laws can affect how they interact with their competitors and other organisations such as private health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies and medical practitioners.

The case of Jones v Bartlett (2000) 205 CLR 166 ('Jones v Bartlett') stands for the basic proposition that an owner of a residential premises does not owe a duty of care to a plaintiff to ensure that premises are updated to comply with ever evolving Australian Standards and Building Codes.