Latest news with #AlisonBarrett
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Common neighbour problem plaguing Aussie houses: 'No right'
Welcome to legal column, where lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn tackle problems everyday Aussies face — whether it be consumer, property, or money matters impacting relationships or work. This week an Aussie is concerned their neighbour has built too close to their house and ruined their privacy. Question I live in Sydney and have an issue with my neighbour. Well, more that a house was built right behind us and they are high enough that they can see right over our fence and through our whole house. I hated it so much we ended up putting up a higher fence. But if they look out their upstairs window they can still see my entire backyard and into the back rooms of my house. Is there anything I can do about it? Was there something I should have done before it was built. I never considered it, and now it makes me feel our family has completely lost our privacy. RELATED Warning for working from home Aussies over common practice Little-known cryptocurrency detail that could impact millions: 'Lost forever' Centrelink act costing 'hardworking' taxpayers Answer Privacy is essential to feeling safe in your own home and it is important to understand your legal rights and the steps you can take to protect your family. Right to privacy In NSW, there is no explicit right to privacy that prevents neighbours from looking into your property. The law would not consider that your neighbour's windows or balconies looking directly into your home or yard (also known as 'mere overlooking') is unlawful. The law generally does not consider it a nuisance unless the behaviour is excessive or unreasonable. Nuisance If your neighbour's actions are causing a significant disturbance, it might be considered a nuisance. Nuisance is when someone does something that interferes with your use and enjoyment of your property. The interference must be substantial and unreasonable. Occasional or minor intrusions likely wouldn't meet the threshold. The first step would be to talk to your neighbour about the issue. They may not be aware of your concerns and might be willing to take steps to reduce the impact on you. If this doesn't resolve the issue and the visual intrusion is significant, you can take legal action to bring a civil claim of private nuisance, seeking a remedy such as an injunction to stop the behaviour. If you wish to do this, you can start by speaking to a community legal centre for advice. Criminal offences There are various offences under the Crimes Act that relate to 'peeping or prying'. However, these acts are only a crime if your neighbour was intending on observing you doing a private act, as opposed to being able to see your home purely because of the layout of your homes. If at any time you consider their conduct feels excessive or targeted, you should make a complaint to the police. Local council regulations Before a house is built during the development application stage, there are usually local council regulations, building codes and planning permissions that need to be followed. These documents often include guidelines around building height, setbacks, and privacy protections —such as requiring high windows to be frosted or mandating privacy screens on balconies. If you believe the new house does not comply with these guidelines, you might be able to lodge a complaint with your local council or NSW Fair Trading. However, the best time to act would have been during the development application stage, where you could have lodged an objection based on privacy concerns. Now that the house is built, your focus needs to shift to practical solutions like screening, planting hedges, and even negotiating with your neighbour for mutual privacy improvements. This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should consult a in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Warning for WFH Aussies over common practice: 'Employer has the legal right'
Welcome to legal column, where lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn tackle problems everyday Aussies face — whether it be consumer, property, or money matters impacting relationships or work. This week an Aussie who's worked from home for four years asks whether they can be forced back into the office. Question I got my job during covid and have been working from home now for four years. My job doesn't really involve much interaction with my colleagues but now there's a push to come into the office. It's a long commute and I feel like I work better at home. I've shaped my life around being able to duck in and out to school pick ups for my kids and my workflow was never really about logging eight hours straight. I got a new boss recently and he is really getting on my back and micromanages me. He's constantly checking in on what I am doing and I am starting to think he's doing a lot of workplace monitoring. How do I know how much he is looking at? I use my work laptop for personal things outside hours as it's the one I have set up in the house and I didn't think at the time it would be an issue. But I am wondering if that was stupid now and he can access my social media and private messages with my imessage logged in? Little-known cryptocurrency detail that could impact millions: 'Lost forever' Centrelink act costing 'hardworking' taxpayers Superannuation 'red alert' for millions as $1 billion in retirement savings feared lost Answer You've asked a question that many employers and employees are grappling with as remote work arrangements evolve and digital surveillance becomes more common in workplaces. Employers wanting to monitor their employees are using everything from CCTV cameras to GPS and data tracking on electronic devices. In general, your employer has the legal right to monitor and track your work tasks and performance, including how you use your laptop. However, this right is not unlimited and your employer must be transparent about their are certain privacy protections you should be aware of regarding surveillance on your laptop. Employment agreement / workplace policies Firstly, you should review your employment contract or agreement to see if it contains any provisions related to computer usage and monitoring, especially when working remotely. Some employment agreements allow employers to monitor work-related activities on company-provided equipment, even when used at home. Employers often seek consent from employees for surveillance activities in the employment agreement or in a separate consent form. If there is nothing in your employment agreement, find out what your employer's policy is about computer usage and device monitoring. Given you are using a work-issued laptop, the answer is potentially, yes. If your iMessage account is logged in and your messages are being stored or synced to the device, they could be accessible — especially if your employer uses monitoring software that captures screen activity, keystrokes, or file access. Similarly, if you access social media through a browser or app on your work laptop, that activity could be logged. Even if you're doing this outside of work hours, the fact that it's on a work device means it may not be considered private. What is reasonable? In the absence of anything in your employment agreement or in a company policy, employers are generally expected to exercise reasonable and proportionate surveillance activities and to communicate these with employees. What is reasonable and proportionate would depend on the nature of the work you perform and whether there are any concerns about your performance could also be a relevant consideration. Justifiable reasons for using monitoring devices can include to: check the quality of a product or service detect theft or fraud ensure employees are safe at work ensure employees are complying with company policies – such as social media and privacy policies ensure employees are performing at the required level. Personal use We would be concerned if your employer is accessing your social media and iMessages, particularly if you are using these platforms outside of work hours and you are entitled to use your work laptop for personal use. That conduct raises concerns about whether they are acting lawfully in monitoring your personal activities. Flexible work It is unclear if you have a formal flexible work arrangement in place, which would ordinarily give you reassurance about your right to work from home and change your working hours to suit your caring responsibilities. This may be something you should explore further if you don't have a formal arrangement in place. Next steps If you feel your privacy is being compromised, you're well within your rights to ask questions and seek clarity. If the monitoring feels excessive or invasive, or is not consistent with your employer's policies, you should raise these concerns with HR or your union representative. If you cannot reach a satisfactory outcome, you should seek legal advice. This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should consult a in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Little-known cryptocurrency detail that could impact millions: 'Lost forever'
Welcome to legal column, where lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn tackle problems everyday Aussies face — whether it be consumer, property, or money matters impacting relationships or work. This week, a cryptocurrency investor has asked whether it's possible for family or friends to access their money if they die. Question I've been quietly investing in crypto over the last year and have made a decent $100,000 profit. I recently heard of a scenario where a family was locked out of their child's accounts after he died suddenly, as they didn't have access to his phone passcode. In the case of my death, I would want my partner to be able to access my crypto accounts, which I run off my phone. But I am apprehensive as I don't really want her to get access to all my photos and messages. How can I best go about getting her access to some things on my devices and not others. Or is that not possible? And what if she pushes to get it all — is there a way to make sure that won't happen? Centrelink act costing 'hardworking' taxpayers Superannuation 'red alert' for millions as $1 billion in retirement savings feared lost Woolworths payment change hits dozens of supermarkets Answer Cryptocurrency is property, so it can be passed to your family through your will, just like a home, car or bank account. However, unlike those traditional assets, crypto is often locked behind private keys and passwords. If no one knows how to access them, they are effectively lost forever. It is an increasingly common concern, and we've all heard or read about the horror stories of people losing their passwords or hard drives and effectively losing hundreds of millions of should include a list of your crypto holdings, wallet types, and where they're stored. To ensure this list can be included in your will, it should not include any passwords, as a will becomes a public document during probate. The asset inventory should include the specifics of the crypto you hold, for example 0.15 Bitcoin or 1.5 Ethereum rather than their current dollar value as that will change. This person will be responsible for handling your digital assets if you die, and transferring their ownership to whoever you stipulate in your will. This can be stored securely with your will and can contain the passwords for your digital assets. This document isn't made public during probate. These tools allow you to create a vault specifically for crypto-related logins, which can be shared with your partner or executor without exposing your entire digital life. These provide a further layer of security to access funds so no single person can act unilaterally. This will prevent your partner from 'getting it all' which you're concerned about. If you do not prepare a will, or other instructions on how to deal with your cryptocurrency in the event of you dying, this will create a significant roadblock in accessing and distributing your assets. The administrators of your estate may not know of its existence and/or know how to access it, so your crypto could be lost forever. We recommend that you take these steps as soon as possible for peace of mind. This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should consult a in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Centrelink act costing 'hardworking' tax payers: 'End up in jail'
Welcome to legal column, where lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn tackle problems everyday Aussies face — whether it be consumer, property, money matters impacting relationships or work. This week, a friend asked whether her mate will end up in jail for accepting cash-in-hand work while on Centrelink. Question I have a good friend who claims Centrelink benefits and various allowances as she has a high needs child and claims she can't work. However, over the past year, she's been taking on more and more cash-in-hand jobs while her daughter is at school. At first, I was supportive as the cost of living was so high, but now she's almost working full-time and not paying any tax while also claiming benefits that hardworking taxpayers, like me, are funding. What would happen to her if I snitched on her? I want her to stop defrauding the system, but I don't want her to end up in 'unreasonable' request after tenant has a baby Mortgage warning over July RBA interest rate cut Centrelink age pension alert for Aussies travelling overseas Answer You're right to question your friend's behaviour, as what she is doing could be considered fraud. Centrelink fraud occurs when someone deliberately provides false or misleading information to receive payments they're not entitled to. In this case, failing to report income – whether it's from cash jobs or any other source – while continuing to claim benefits is a clear breach of the rules. The law doesn't distinguish between income paid by bank transfer or in cash. All income must be declared to both Centrelink and the Australian Taxation Office. The consequences of Centrelink fraud can be serious. If your friend is caught, she may be required to repay the overpaid benefits, face fines, or even be charged with a criminal offence and end up in jail. The outcome depends on the scale of the fraud, whether it was intentional, and whether the person cooperates with authorities. In many first-time or lower-level cases, penalties may include repayment plans, community service, or a criminal record rather than imprisonment. If you decide to report her, you can do so anonymously through Services Australia's fraud tip-off line. They investigate reports using data-matching tools, employer records, and even social media activity. While it's natural to feel conflicted, it's worth remembering that Centrelink fraud doesn't just affect the government. It affects all Australians who rely on a fair and functioning welfare system. If you are concerned about reporting your friend, perhaps as a first step you should express concern to her about what she is doing and that it could be fraud. This conversation might be the push she needs to do the right thing, that is, start reporting her earnings and transitioning off benefits.
India Today
25-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
Why UK is a top higher study destination for Indians
Every year, thousands of Indian students apply to the UK for higher studies, drawn by its globally recognised universities and attractive post-study work opportunities. In 2023-24, for instance, 166,310 Indian students were enrolled in the UK, and the country continues to be a leading destination for those seeking high-quality education and promising universities in the UK offer outstanding subject expertise, hands-on learning and tailored support that can make all the difference to one's academic and career journey. This particularly holds for students seeking real-world impact from their post-study-work Graduate Route Visa, introduced in 2021, has played a key role in helping Indian graduates gain valuable work experience and build careers in the UK, with 70 per cent choosing to stay on after their studies under this recent India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is being viewed as yet another move in leveraging ties between the two countries. 'The India-UK FTA marks a new era of growth for two of the world's largest and most innovative economies,' says Alison Barrett MBE, country director India, the British Council. 'It will redefine the partnership for the next generation, strengthening trade links, supporting jobs and delivering shared prosperity. The deal is expected to increase bilateral trade, already worth 43 billion, by another 25.5 billion, supporting thousands of jobs across both countries.'advertisement While the FTA is focused primarily on trade, education remains a cornerstone of the unique living bridge that connects British and Indian people. Indian students represent one of the largest international groups in the UK, receiving nearly a quarter of all UK Sponsored Study Visas issued globally last year.'The UK is also proud to partner with India on its ambitious plans for the internationalisation of the Indian higher education landscape. The University of Southampton and University of Liverpool have announced plans to open new campuses in India, making it easier for students to gain a UK degree here at home,' says for its high-quality education and globally respected universities, many of which consistently rank among the top in international rankings, the institutions in the UK are also known to offer strong industry links and comprehensive student diverse, inclusive learning environment is another key draw; UK campuses host one of the highest ratios of international faculty and students globally, providing Indian students with a rich cultural experience alongside their studies. And beyond the classroom, the UK offers a welcoming and safe environment, a streamlined visa process, and the opportunity to stay back and work under the post-study work Graduate Route after graduation. These factors make it not only an ideal study destination but also a promising launch-pad for international Barrett points out, 'Strong UK-India educational ties, including collaborative online learning initiatives, further support India's NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 goals and expand access to quality education for millions. The UK's commitment to strengthening this partnership ensures that Indian students continue to benefit from world-class opportunities both on campus and beyond.'In this context, the British Council, through a range of strategic initiatives, acts as a catalyst for collaboration, mobility, capacity building, cross-cultural learning and mutual to India Today Magazine- Ends
