Hello,

About 3 weeks ago, I booked a flight from Sydney to Singapore with Scoot. Today, when I arrived at the airport, I was denied boarding by the Scoot ground crew because my passport expires in March 2025. I was shocked to find out that, to travel to Singapore, your passport needs to have at least 6 months of validity remaining from the date of entry.

The thing is, I had no idea about this requirement, and I put my trust in my travel agent to guide me. I went in person to make this booking, and all the agent told me was, "Your passport is expiring soon; you should get it renewed when you come back." At no point did they mention the 6-month rule for Singapore or that my passport would make me ineligible to travel.

Now the agent is trying to cover their tracks, claiming that I told them my passport was valid for 6 months, which I absolutely did not say. As a travel agent, isn’t it your responsibility to ensure your clients’ documents meet the requirements for their destinations? If they knew my passport wasn’t acceptable for Singapore travel, why didn’t they advise me or deny me from purchasing the ticket?

I’m now left stranded and don’t know what to do. Scoot has said I need to purchase a new ticket if I want to rebook, which is not feasible for me right now. I also have travel insurance, but I’m unsure if this situation is covered.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? What are my options here? Is there any way to hold the travel agent accountable or get compensation for this?

Hello I wanted to know if it was possible to report a private rental for housing people in sub standard living conditions.

I am a tradesman called in to do a bit of work to secure a property (damaged eternal door) and noticed the house was in low standards. This house appears to hold multiple young students/visa workers from abroad. Their are beds scattered throughout this house in living spaces and hall ways. Multiple cases of blackmold and damp thtoughout the house, holes in walls, delapidated fence, a tin shed converted into more bedrooms with more migrant tenants living in it. The shed also appears to have flooding issues as there was rolled up towels to block runoff flow into it. From rough estimate id put around 9 to 10 tenants ocupying this 4 bedroom house.

These are not healthy living conditions for people and I am aware these kids (approx 18-25yo men) may be ok living like this in exchange for cheap rent, but they also may not be aware of their rights as the majority of them are non english speakers, and those that can speak struggle to hold conversation.

This rental is a private rental not through an agency. I want to know if I as someone who is not a tenant can make a complaint about it regardless of it being solicited or not on behalf of the tenants.

Signed for a door installation. Well known Australian company. I feel like I've been trapped. Can the full terms and conditions of a contract be placed in a qr code? I only signed the invoice. Salesman brisked over the qr code and called it the "warranty conditions" but it's actually the conditions of sale.

Apologies if this is the wrong sub for this, but can anyone who drives this road after 10pm please confirm whether the speed limit is 100 during said time?

Cheers

Early hours Sunday after a drinking session, walking to find a taxi and 2 traditional owners TO1 and TO2 rounded the corner and kicked over an electric scooter. Friend said sarcastically ‘I’ll pick that up for you’ with a smile on his face just being harmless. TO1 stomps over to friend and gets in his face calling him white Cun7 and asking why he thinks he’s clever etc, friend keeps calm, TO1 gets more aggressive and my friend realising the situation was escalating threw the first punch, TO2 moved towards my friend and he threw a punch at him too. I then sprang forward and split the two TOs taking TO2 away leaving a fair 1v1. Nothing interesting happened for the next 5 mins I was keeping TO2 busy with shouting and the odd punch to thin air just trying to keep him from jumping in with the other fight. My friend tripped on a kerb and TO1 backed away. TO2 ran towards my friend and kicked him in the side of the head from the side out of view, snapping his head back into the pavement and breaking bones in his face and rendering him unconscious, blood everywhere etc. bystanders ran over and helped my to give first aid. TO2 ran off straight after the kick. TO1 stayed and I asked him if the scooter and a harmless comment was worth possibly killing my mate. My stance is that the Taps approached my friend overs sarcastic comment with no intent at all. I view the punches as defensive due to the aggression shown by both TOs for absolutely nothing aggressive on my friends part. My friend is now looking likely to be charged in court…

The police are/were trying to pin something on me but I was not interested in fighting just trying to keep the two guys from jumping my mate. The CCTV apparently doesn’t cover where I was with TO2 but I think that’s a load of rubbish. I just wasn’t fighting in reality.

What are the rules in this instance? In the UK the level of aggression would be taken into consideration and any physical response would have to be judged to be reasonable, what is one persons reasonable is another’s unreasonable. We are both engineers contributing to the Australia economy, we are both intelligent and do not put ourselves in situations like this, it was surprising to see what happened to be honest.

We recently moved into a terrace in Sydney, where we’ve been living for about five months. One of the features we really appreciated was having side access leading to a private back courtyard—something our solicitor made sure was listed on the property title without shared access or easements. 

Shortly after getting trades in to spruce up the house, our neighbor approached me, confidently explaining that they’ve always used the side access area for their bins and even offered to take ours out as well. Wanting to keep things amicable as new residents, we didn’t think much of it at the time.

The property had been a rental for over 25 years before we purchased it, so we assumed there might have been informal habits established. In the first few weeks, I noticed the neighbor's child about to use our side gate as a shortcut, only for the parent to quietly redirect them. Over time, however, their use of the access increased significantly, with all members of the household frequently walking through. This is concerning because our kitchen door, which opens onto the side path, is glass. The constant passing has startled us multiple times, and with a toddler and a pregnant partner, it's becoming increasingly uncomfortable. So much so that we frosted the glass!

We decided to have the property surveyed, even though our planned renovations are still years away. The survey confirmed the side access is entirely our land, and, to our surprise, a corner of the neighbor’s house and approx. 10m of their gutter actually encroach on our property by over 30cm!

I spoke to the neighbor politely about this, requesting that they stop using the side access and storing bins there. However, they were defensive, suggesting the arrangement didn’t seem right and that they’d consult a solicitor.

What are my legal rights here? I’d like to handle this without involving lawyers if possible, but I’m unsure how to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated.

I saw an a current affair episode where it seems a person paid outgoing rates on a property then applied for adverse possession and it was granted. I thought you needed to live on the property for 12 years or so and be fully accepted as part of the community. Could I legally take possession of a property if I pay the outgoing rates that may have been unpaid for over 12 years?

Episode https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r8g5YcHsDSY

Can anyone recommend a proforma personal unsecured loan contract. I'm in QLD if it matters. There's a bunch online, but if anyone has any experience to offer I'd appreciate it.

Hi everyone,

I work in allied health in a large private practice. My boss has recently told me my contract is being redrawn up to now include leave entitlements (which I have never had previously) as a kind of 'bonus' / encouragement to stay working with them in addition to a modest increase in my hourly salary.

I'm wondering if there are laws pertaining to how they can do this, for example - is there any rules about backdating things like sick leave or does it just begin accruing from the date I sign the new contract, irrespective of my length of service (which is >6 years)?

I am wary of just trusting and signing whatever they contract they give me as I have seen how they effectively cheated other staff before.

What kind of legal / assistance service should I look for to help me answer these kinds of questions?

Thanks in advance

My partner (30F) and I (28M) - not married - have bought a house together for $1.85m.

My parents put in $600k cash (gift to me) I put in $145k cash Partner put in $186k cash This comes out to me/partner 80/20 ownership split. We have a Tenants in Common sale contract.

We have a $1.0m principal + interest loan

We also have a $295k interest only loan that we will offset entirely at settlement, so no interest charged (but giving access to that cash if needed down the track)

I work for a building company, and we plan on doing substantial renovations (circa $300k cost) to the house which will be done for me as part of my bonus structure at work. Because of this, if we break up I don't want her having recourse to the uplift due to the renovation cost as she'd be essentially taking my work bonus as well as the consequential value uplift on her share.

My parents have asked we prepare a "break up contract" to protect their $600k gift to me. We are trying to detail what happens if we break up in 5 years for example, how does the money get split up?

We will both be contributing as much money as possible into the offset of the $1.0m loan moving forward as we still have quite a bit of disposal income each, but likely not at a 20/80 rate which will mess with the ownership structure.

How do we structure the break up contract assuming I'm keeping the house so it's fair for us both based on all money contributed to the property?

Would it make sense to say that she would only get access to the uplift in value from purchase price + an average of the returns of a similar house in the same neighbourhood over that period of time (unrenovated)?

Would the money she has contributed to the offset be paid back with interest (would it be fair to give interest that would have otherwise been earned in a HISA over that period?)

We are both very open to these discussions and are almost certain this relationship will end in marriage anyway making the contract mostly void, but the main aim of this contract is to protect her from getting recourse to my parents $600k that was a gift to me (not her), which she agrees she would never want to have recourse to anyway.

Was charged last year for physical damage with a fine and Cco for 6 months. The fine was paid and cco period complete. Will this now go away during the police checks for employment? Or am I stuck with this for 10 years.

I’ve just learned that my child’s school bus driver only has one arm. Is this legal?

Hi everyone,

n.b. I have removed certain details to protect my identity.

I recently bought a demo motorcycle from a Sydney dealership for circa 20k. I arrived on a friday this month to pick up the bike. I paid the aforementioned sum in full via credit card and signed the contract of sale.

Following this, the dealer I was working with (the general manager of the dealership) could not find the Form 7: Motor Dealer’s Notice for Motor Cycles (https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0007/595555/Form-7-Motor-Dealers-Notice-for-Motorcycles.docx). Since this could not be found, the dealer mentioned that I could take the bike as a ‘loaner’ home that day and return the following Monday when he could find the form. This was made as a verbal agreement. I assumed at this stage that I would be covered under the dealerships insurance policy as I had previously taken the bike in question out on loan to see if I liked it.

In retrospect, I should not have done this, I should have walked out after this. I am, however, quite young (<20) and had never bought a vehicle before, nor spent a considerable amount of money on anything before. The dealership was quite well known and I had heard good things, so I assumed the dealer would act in good faith with this situation. Note, I had not taken out insurance on the bike at this time, as I believed that I did not own the bike; given what was said to me by the dealer.

That evening, I was involved in an accident, a taxi hit me and threw me off the bike. There was considerable damage to the bike (quoted 3.5k in repairs) and I had to go to hospital immediately, with a sprained wrist and severe concussion. I could not work for two weeks following this incident. Unrelated, but the taxi driver is uninsured and has been noncompliant in my attempts to contact him (I did manage to get his rego and licence, a member of the public helped me do this as I was dazed and did not have recollection of the accident due to hitting my head hard on the bitumen).

While I was still recovering, the dealer sent me an email on the following Monday with the Form 7 attached, requesting I print and sign the document. Following this, I informed the dealership that I was in an accident and that I would need help with insurance work. It was then that the dealer told me that no such agreement had been made regarding a ‘loan’ bike - as previously mentioned - and that I would have to do it myself. Rendering me responsible for collecting money for all damage incurred.

A few messages back and forth between I and the dealer ensued. After one last message from me, which the dealer did not respond to, I went in to the dealership, still suffering from a head injury. I saw the Form 7 on the Monday.

A few weeks later, after the dealer did not respond to me, I messaged him again, it was at this time I found out he had blocked my number. I confirmed this by calling him twice, both times the number could not connect and my text messages were not being delivered. I called the dealership to ask them if he was in, which they confirmed.

Today (2nd December) I had a meeting with the managers boss (the dealership principle manager). At this time I was given copies of the documents that I had signed.

This is where it gets weird, I noticed that the form 7 had been signed, and backdated to the Friday of the accident. Given that the dealer emailed me on the Monday to sign the document, which I did not do, and that I know I did not sign it when I went in on the Monday. I thought this was quite weird.

Which is my reason for posting here. I assume that this is fraud, and if it is, can I press charges? Does the fact that the form was not signed at the time of sale mean that the contract is nullified? Does the fact that it was - I’m assuming here - fraudulently altered, null the contract? Is the dealership vicariously liable through the actions of their employee?

What do I do here? I’m a bit confused and I don’t want to waste money; which I don’t really have, asking a lawyer who might just see it as money for him, without me even having a case.

Thanks everyone.

Edit: I have copies of the email sent to me, also, in correspondence with the dealer, he acknowledges the unsigned form after I supposedly signed it.

Need advice.

I am aware of a person in who self-declares as a sovereign citizen and has not registered the birth of their child with government authorities. The child was born via free birth at home 'sovereign birth'. The child will never be vaccinated and will never attend daycare or public school as the concept is to not have the child recorded in any government system. There are plans to home school the child in the future but even this is unofficial since you need to actually inform the authorities about it. The child is effectively an invisible non-legal person who will never be able to participate in public life.

One parent is the instigator behind this. Think radical sovereign citizen, anti-vax, anti-government, strawman, etc. The more level-headed co-parent of the child isn't aware enough about the consequences to be as concerned as I am. Obviously this child will grow up encountering numerous issues with legal matters with not being able to access services, prove their identity or even citizenship. However, I also know in NSW you can do a late registry later in life.

Ignoring my personal moral and ethical objections, what legal obligations do I have to report this to BDM? I know this is unlawful but is this a criminal offence and a matter for the police? What are my options as a bystander concerned for the child? I do not want the parents in trouble at all as I have come to be friends with one of them. The child is not in any danger. The parents are loving and nurturing, no child abuse is evident, but the decision to not register her birth is surely problematic.

Edit: Thanks for the advice. I'll contact CP Helpline tomorrow and inform them about the matter, see what else I can do.

I have a feeling I’m about to be dismissed without legitimate course.

My question is in relation to unfair dismissal eligibility for businesses with fewer than 12 employees, as these are deemed small businesses and unfair dismissal does not apply inside 12 months

I have been with the business just over 6 months, recently passing my probation.

The company is head officed offshore and has approx 75 employees total however only 8 based in Australia.

Do only Australian employees count or also the employees based in our overseas head offices?

I'll mostly pay it off, but strictly from legal standpoint do I have a chance that this can get waived?

Pic1 shows second tyre crossing stop line in 0.4s. I would be driving slow enough so when I entered the intersection, only my front tyre would have entered. I think the car next to me was quite behind and would definitely have triggered it, covering the point about how the signal got triggered.

These images don't show the last yellow light or the point when I had not committed the offence. Not sure how I can get that photograph. Attaching the herewith.

traffic light pics Edit: my car is red i30

Hi all, don’t know if this is a dumb question at all. However long story short, I’m a 23 male who has had a let’s say a rocky start to my life and had put my life on a trajectory on which I am lucky to be here today and am grateful to say I have been clean and sober for over 18 months now (the longest I have been since 11-12yrs old) and as you do tend to lose people and loved ones come to a point where they need to protect themselves but there have been two amazing people that have never lost their faith, enabled me to help myself and are the reason I am in recovery and am alive today, one was/is my step dad, come into my life when I was 2 yrs old and unfortunately separated with my mother around the time my life turned for the worse and his new wife/partner who had been in the picture for the last 7/8 years now (I do have a half brother to my step dad) I refer to both of them as my parents as they have been there and done more for me than anyone on this planet and would love for nothing more to I don’t know make it somewhat official for something that would be so special to our family as they have just had a child of their own as well. But I guess I’m asking if adoption for adults over 18 yrs of age is allowed or legally binding? Biological mother and father are still alive and am only just starting to make contact however I’ve it’s more like an estranged relationship with a long lost uncle or something and would not stop this in any way if I were to sit them down if I need their permission or them to sign anything. Sorry for the long story was just hoping to really make this happen.

I have recently received an unexpected body corp levy of approximately $800. The reason for this levy as that apparently there are a large volume of unpaid levies by owners of townhouses in the complex, approaching approximately $50,000. There is a process of debt recovery ongoing with those who have unpaid levies but due to "not enough funds to pay invoices" an interim levy be issued to take the body copr through to the next levy period.

This seems exceedingly unfair - essentially I am having to pay an additional levy because some people aren't paying theirs. How is this possibly legal? I have paid every one of my body corp fees on time and now myself and every other owner is being paid because some people are shirking their responsibilities.

I had solar panels and an inverter installed about 3 years ago, everything is still well within the 10 year warranty. In September I noticed my panels were not generating any electricity, so upon investigating I noticed the inverter had a fault. The fault occurs everytime the panels generate more than 5kwh then the inverter shuts off. I contacted the manufacturer whom advised me that all warranty claims need to go through the installer first (unless they are out of business). I contacted the installer by phone and then sent them an email with all the information they requested and then did not hear back at all. My wife and I have called their company roughly 20 times over since September, ever single time they keep saying it is lodged and they'll provide an update when available. About 3 weeks ago I contacted the manufacturer directly to see if they could provide an update and they advised no warranty claim has been made yet. I emailed the installer with this information and requested an update in writing. This went ignored for a few days. I then phoned and was advised they have not made a warranty claim, as one of their in house technicians will repair the inverter, but they messaged their technician and have not heard back in over a week. I advised them that I require an update the same day regarding when my inverter will be repaired, they said they would but then failed to do so. A few days later, I emailed again requesting a date for my inverter to be repaired and then stated if I do not hear back I will be forced to seek legal advice about this issue. They also ignored this email.

I am after advice on what to do next. I've researched making a complaint to the ombudsman, but their website states they will not help get an outcome for my specific case, but rather may choose to investigate the installer seperately. Should I be lodging a QCAT claim against the installer? What are my options?

Hi all,

First of all, thanks for you time and any advice in advance.

I am salary employee and on a contract, not EA.

I used to work 9am–5pm with flexibility to start early/late or leave early/late, so only need to make up 40 hours a week (actual paid is for 37.5 hours, as I have unpaid 30mins lunch breaks everyday). However due to recent changes at my company, I am doing 6am-2pm day shift hours, with sharp start at 6:00am. BUT, I am also requested to stay back till 2:30pm, to do handover or some overlapping with afternoon shift team. I am very unhappy for the extra 2.5 hours work a week. I gave feedback to my manager and questioned why I need to stay back. They said on your contract, you are requested to do reasonable hours.

My question is, if I am doing overtime everyday, is it still reasonable?

Some extra information: This is a new manager who is very strict on breaks and starting on time. For example, if you arrive in the office at 6:01am, this is NOT acceptable for them. I only have a 30 minutes unpaid break over 8 hours work. Now I have to work 8.5 hours with only one lunch break.

Thanks !!!!

I want to take some leave due to my exam period and they are saying it’s a busy time and do not approve. Are they able to do this?

Just purchased a car a couple days ago, but my parents were supposed to have their names down as the owner (im driving it but it’s really theirs, they are paying registration, insurance etc) however the dealership ended up putting my name down.

Is there anyway to get this changed without having to pay stamp duty again?

So I purchased an air-conditioning unit, the type where you have attach it to an open window where it blows out the air.

The plastic thing that attaches it to the window is way too small, therefore it leaves a gap where the cool air can just flow straight back out.

I want to return it for a refund as 'not fit for purpose'. Trouble is, to find out it didn't fit, I had to dismantle the box it came in, which I then threw out.

The company I purchased it from have denied me a refund, stating that its because I no longer have the original packaging.

Where do I stand on this?

Friday night, two guys (I’m pretty sure we’re under the influence of drugs) decided to randomly punch me while I was on the df at a pub. I fell back and landed on a couch where another then punched me in the stomach, my mates came over and pulled them off, then one of them got punched in the face and the culprits ran off.

I sustained a chipped tooth and a bruised face. My nose isn’t broken but is now pushed to the side permanently.

The men were arrested and one charged with common assault, the other charged with assault occasioning bodily harm. I haven’t spoken to the police since they spoke to me while I was in the hospital.

I just want to know what my best course of action is in terms of getting my chipped tooth fixed, it’s going cost a couple hundred dollar, I know there’s the victims of crimes compensation, do I have to wait until the case is over to claim? Also what can I do to create as much hardship for these men as possible?

As above

Hi all,

Our rental was sold by the landlord mid fixed term lease, with tenancy. Selling agent assured us the buyers were aware our term was until April, and they still wanted to proceed with the sale. 7 days ago the selling agent turned around and let us know that the buyers had been advised by their solicitors that they had grounds to evict us once it settled. They are stretched to cover rent and mortgage until April, which I sympathise with - but then they shouldn't have committed to buying.

Even though they have been told by the Agent that this is not legal, we've been left insecure knowing they had intended to. Hasn't helped that both the selling agent and our property manager have now been breathing down our necks to move out asap.

We've been looking for a place to move to but options are limited in our area, especially with a dog. They also failed to mention that post settlement, the option to break lease without paying fees is gone, which I now realise they were pushing to get us out sooner - our fault for not doing more research. So we now have 11 days until settlement, and a new landlord who we know wants us out.

We've been to viewings and submitted an application in the past 7 days, but are being pressured into moving into another home leased by this agency, which makes sense on paper - but is run down, smells like cat p**s & far too big for us. We don't trust the agent, who said the landlord will bring down the rent for us. She's also given us 48hours to make the decision.

We want out of this mess, but hate the pressure we're under & that in 11 days we take on the financial risk of terminating our lease early to accommodate what is best for the buyer, not for us.

Will we get evicted early? Will we pay breaking of lease fees? Will we continue to be pressured/face fighting for our bond when we leave, to cover the landlord's costs of renting whilst we're still here?

Thank you

Hi there, my sister is on a six month probationary period (almost 5minths in). She told her work she is pregnant and a week later they fired her for “not being a good fit” and “not being a good role model”. They didnt give any specific examples of this. She has been given a weeks wages. Prior to her dismissal they have always said great things and been very happy with her performance. It is a Christian company and she is concerned she’s been fired as she is unmarried. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

My husband gets comission based on sales. They show him Z reporr as proof of sales. He is getting sus because the amount he geys is always the same. Not less not more even during busy weeks. My question is can the z report be manipulated

Purchased an item from a computer store that’s become faulty while still under warranty.

I had to return it to the store for them to send back for repair to manufacturer. After 4 weeks I got it back only to discover it still is faulty.

It’s now been nearly 7 weeks and as a result of the faulty item my computer is also unusable.

It’s clear that it’s a major fault and an unreasonable time frame since a repair was not able to be properly completed in the first place.

The store I purchased it from keeps stuffing me around when I try to get an update.

I feel as though I’m going to have to take this to VCAT as I have no idea if the product is being repaired again, and I have no idea that it will be repaired properly, or in what time frame. I’m getting no where.

Do I take the store that I purchased it from to VCAT or do I take the manufacturer to VCAT?

Will the landlords want us gone or not let us extend the lease if they find out about the door?

My friend got out of an abusive relationship and she has been trying to get her back (she is currently staying with me) and she has gone as far as to report her missing to the police and telling them she’s been highly suicidal, which is not true. This then resulted in them coming to our house when we weren’t home and breaking our door to try and find her. She is safe and finally away from her but now I’m worried the landlord’s aren’t going to want to renew the lease because they will think we will bring trouble to the house and I’m am really stressed!