As a result of amendments introduced by the Electronic Transactions Amendment (Covid-19 Witnessing of Documents) Regulation 2020 (NSW) (Regulation), execution of documents by witnesses in NSW is permitted to be conducted by audio-visual link.

The Regulation commenced on 22 April 2020 and will expire on 22 October 2020 unless the NSW Parliament determines otherwise.

Documents to which the Regulation Applies

SA Metropolitan Fire Service v ACN 008 275 296 Pty Ltd (in Liq) & Ors [2020] SADC 45

Summary

A South Australian District Court Judge has found that a public liability policy does not cover a statutory debt:

Death v Workers Compensation (Dust Diseases) Authority (No 1) [2020] NSWDC 103

Summary

Summary

On Friday, 24 April 2020 Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the release of National COVID-19 Safe Workplace Principles. The Principles have now been published by Safe Work Australia.

It is critical that all employers are aware of these principles, and stay up to date with recommendations and guidance from both Safe Work Australia and the respective WHS bodies in each State/Territory in which they operate.

The Principles

Moore v Scenic Tours Pty Ltd [2020] HCA 17 (24 April 2020)

Summary

The National Cabinet has, on 7 April 2020, approved a legally enforceable Mandatory Code of Conduct that will apply to SME commercial leasing during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic (including a reasonable subsequent, but as yet unspecified recovery period).

The purpose of the Code is to impose a set of good faith overarching and leasing principles for application to commercial tenancies (including retail, office and industrial) between landlords and eligible tenants.

Application of the Code

IT WAS SO GOOD to see so many of you at our year opening Life Matters seminars last month on “5 Traits of Sustainable Claims Decisions”. It took some doing getting all these busy Turks presenters in the one place at the one time, but it was such a thrill to present with such a knowledgeable team of life experts and I hope you all found it as fun and rewarding as we all did. Please drop me a line if you missed out on receiving a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

Summary

This Federal Court decision of March 2020 confirms the principles of ‘forfeiture’ in relation to death benefit claims and provides guidance to life insurers as to when a criminal joint policy owner under a life policy, may ‘forfeit’ a benefit that they might otherwise have been entitled to.

The decision also confirms the prudence of paying a policy benefit into court under s 215 of the Life Insurance Act 1995 when there is any doubt as to the proper person to receive such sum.

Brief Facts