Rural Brief - May 2005

Death on a Farm

The 2004 case of WorkCover Authority of NSW v Kirk Group Holdings Pty Limited & Anor highlights the need for proper risk assessment and skills training to manage occupational health and safety on farms.

Real Estate Agents - And Misrepresentation

The High Court has considered the issue of whether a corporate real estate agent unwittingly engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act, 1974 where a sales brochure contained untrue or misleading statements supplied by the vendor. The case is Butcher v Lachlan Elder Realty Pty Limited, decided in December 2004.

Tree Removal - Was Landowner Liable?

Coffs Harbour City Council v Hickey was a case heard in 2004 by the NSW Land & Environment Court and dealt with prosecution of a landowner for removal of trees to which a Tree Preservation Order ("TPO") applied, without development consent under the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act, 1979. Any tree with a girth of less than 300 mm measured at 1.5 metres above ground level was excluded from the TPO.

Defective Dam Enlargement

Last month the South Australian Supreme Court heard an appeal from a magistrate’s decision awarding damages to a landowner for defective dam construction. The case was Reed & Ors v Peridis & Anor.

Wills & Water

Workplace Fatalities

The Occupational Health & Safety Act 2002 (NSW) ("the Act") imposes far reaching duties and responsibilities to ensure health and safety not only upon employers, but on directors of employer companies and other persons involved in management and employees. In October last year, New South Wales Commerce Minister, John Della Bosca, released a draft exposure bill titled the Occupational Health & Safety Legislation Amendment (Workplace Fatalities) Bill 2004 ("the Bill").

Water Supply Easement

In the May 2003 issue of the Rural Brief we reported on the case of Biki & Anor v Chessells which involved the question of whether the grantee of a registered easement 10 metres wide for the purpose of construction repair and maintenance of a delivery channel could enter onto the land of grantor of the easement outside the 10 metre wide easement to repair and alter the channel.