Law Report

An elderly man goes into respite care and meets a nurse he's never known before. Within days she's bought him a will kit and had a document drawn up that leaves everything to her. He dies weeks later. Was that his clear settled wish, or something else entirely? Proving the difference is where it gets hard. And messy.When it comes to wills, how big an issue are fraud and undue influence? And what sorts of questions arise over how a will is made?Melbourne lawyer and elder financial abuse specialist James Dimond takes us inside these disputes, from a will signed by pressured witnesses to a father who cut out his son after his daughter convinced him her brother was a dangerous criminal, and the legal idea courts call "poisoning of the mind".The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body explores what happens when wills go wrong.A reminder, this conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

A frozen fish packet. An unsent text. A tractor fender. Courts have accepted all of these as valid wills.You want to write a will and make sure that your assets go to those who you think deserve your generosity.So, how can you make sure the will is binding? Does it need to be a formal document, printed out and signed with a pen? Or can a valid will be a word document, an email or text message? Can it be written on a frozen fish packet or the wall in your home?Wills expert Professor Pru Vines of UNSW walks through the strangest cases courts have accepted, including a British man who left his entire estate to charity on fish and mince pie packaging, a dying Canadian farmer who scratched his wishes into a tractor after it rolled on him, an unsent phone text upheld in Queensland, and a woman who recorded her will on a smartphone while chastising her children.The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at how courts decide whether an unconventional or irregular will is or isn't valid.A warning, this conversation makes multiple references to suicide, so take care when listening.It also does not represent or replace legal advice.

You work the family farm your whole life, then it's left to someone else.When drafting a will, the law says you don't have to be fair or equal in deciding who will receive your estate.So, after you pass away, can disgruntled family members or friends challenge your will in the courts? Conflicts over inheritance arise in many families but are particularly fraught and complex in farming families.Andrew Lawson of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at the University of New England explains why the farm behaves almost like a third party in the family, and how the courts weigh need over fairness. He unpacks a $20 million farm fight where two siblings sued the estate and only one won, and the High Court case of a share farmer who toiled for decades on the promise the land would be his, only to see it left to someone else.The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at farming family fallouts over inheritance and the unique challenges they create around succession.This conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

If a relative asks you to be the executor of their will, should you accept? What can go wrong and what do you need to know before you agree to take on the role? When disputes arise, executors are the ones left to clean up the mess, often navigating difficult family dynamics. And saying yes to being an executor can make you personally liable for someone else's debts. Sydney lawyer Donal Griffin explains what the job involves, from settling the deceased's tax and debts to the risk of being held personally liable if you distribute too soon and a claim lands months later. He also covers the conflicts that arise when the executor is also a beneficiary, and the odd habit of people naming politicians and public figures they've never met to run their affairs. The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body explores the challenges faced by executors when finalising and distributing an estate. This conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

The criminal trial of former radio broadcaster Alan Jones has begun in the Local Court in Sydney.

The Victorian parliament has published a groundbreaking inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups.Among the inquiry's recommendations are world-first laws to criminalise coercive control behaviours by groups. 

It's 150 years since the birth of William Ah Ket, Australia's first lawyer of Chinese descent.He was involved in two significant legal victories that kicked back against laws that discriminated against Asian Australians in the early 20th century.The Law Report explores the life and career of this remarkable Australian, his achievements and how his legacy resonates today.

This year marks 50 years of the Family Law Act – legislation that revolutionised the way Australians divorce. Two former family law judges sit down with Damien Carrick to revisit a time before no-fault divorce, when unhappy spouses often employed private detectives to prove adultery.

What is it like to have the responsibility of deciding if a violent offender should be released from prison and allowed back into the community? 

In a legal first, the Federal Court has handed down a sexual harassment decision under protections recently introduced to the Fair Work Act.

If a child is injured by tear gas in a youth detention centre, are the authorities liable? And can a protester injured by police during a demonstration seek damages? 

The Court of Appeal in London ruled that it was open to Britain's home secretary to designate the Palestine Action protest group as a terrorist organisation.

The Law Report looks at the Victorian government plans to ensure health and counselling information is not used in court without the consent of victim survivors, who will also be given the choice to pre-record their evidence ahead of trial.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising all parts of the economy and our institutions — corporate boardrooms and the courts are not immune.

A court has found that a South Australian farmer was responsible for setting fire to a pile of vegetation that was left smouldering and reignited six months later, causing a devastating bushfire.

There's been a wave of defamation suits from within the Trump administration targeting the US news media. Is it legitimate litigation or lawfare?

In a case that's transfixed the US, a woman who wrote a children's book about grief following her husband's death has been sentenced to life in prison for his murder.

Imagine you are a victim of crime and need therapy to help deal with a traumatic memory. Would you go ahead if it meant that your case might not be prosecuted because the treatment could deem your evidence unreliable or inadmissible in court?

There are no political donation laws in Victoria following a High Court decision that overturned legislation in place for nearly a decade.

The Law Report speaks to victims who are calling for the banking giant to compensate them, and asks, how effective are Australian laws in dealing with sophisticated scams?

Australia's most decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail after being charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. Why was he granted bail? And why did the judge find there were exceptional circumstances and bail did not impose any unacceptable risks?

In countries where voluntary assisted dying is allowed, there are very different legal frameworks. A high-profile case in Spain raises questions of whether the procedure should only be allowed if there is a terminal illness. Should the medical criteria also include mental distress? And how does mental illness impact on the idea of agency and choice?

Indigenous incarceration rates are off the scale in Australia. For the last four years, the District Court of New South Wales has been trialling the Walama sentencing list, a program aimed at reducing recidivism.

The Law Report is asking some big picture questions about the pros and cons of facial recognition software use by police and retailers.

Should the Federal Government have powers to restrict the movement of former immigration detainees in the community?

How accurate is a recent report that claims Victorian courts issue more suppression orders than in any other Australian jurisdiction? 

What arguments and information should courts be hearing when they are sentencing an offender? In April, a tool to assist defence lawyers and judges will go national.

Matthias Bekier, former managing director of Star Entertainment, the company which operates Sydney’s Star Casino and Paula Martin, Star Entertainment’s former legal counsel both failed to address money laundering risks and criminal associations between 2017 and 2019.That’s the finding of Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court, who at the same time dismissed similar cases against a number of Star Entertainment’s non-executive directors.What does this finding mean for both executive and non-executive directors?Guest: Anthony Whealy, former NSW Supreme Court judge, Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity and a Former New South Wales Court of Appeals Judge, he’s also a former assistant commissioner to the NSW ICAC. (Independent Commission Against Corruption)To hear more in-depth expert coverage of the important legal stories and cases of the week, search for The Law Report podcast on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Law Report is shining a light on claims or disaster chasers who approach people whose homes have been damaged by a severe weather event.

Two former family law judges sit down with Damien Carrick to revisit a time before no-fault divorce, when unhappy spouses often employed private detectives to prove adultery. 

Queensland has introduced a bill to ban the slogans "from the river to the sea" and "globalise the intifada". Western Australia wants to give police the power to refuse a protest permit if a public event is deemed likely to promote hate. It comes after New South Wales imposed tight restrictions on the Sydney protest against the visit of Israel's president Isaac Herzog.

The Law Report speaks to Richard Hermer, attorney general for England and Wales, who was in Australia recently with a message centred on upholding the rule of law. And why do individuals and corporations donate to political parties? 

Can artificial intelligence reveal the assumptions judges make? Or help lawyers and litigants to identify appeal arguments? 

In the wake of the Bondi mass shooting, the federal government has passed two significant pieces of legislation that it says are aimed at preventing future attacks. 

In the aftermath of Victoria's catastrophic bushfires, we look at how communities attempt to rebuild their lives and homes. We also discuss navigating complex legal issues, including insurance, debts, tenancy rights, and fakes tradies or other scammers who prey on vulnerable people in the wake of natural disasters. 

In Australia, 'what is death' and other legal definitions, such as what constitutes human tissue, have not kept up with advances in medical science. The Australian Law Reform Commission is conducting the first review of human tissue laws in nearly 50 years.

An emoji, a protest placard and a tweet by a soccer fan have all led to criminal charges in Britain. The Law Report explores how language and cultural expression are used in the prosecution of non-white people for race hate offences. 

Can art change lives? The Confined 16 exhibition in Melbourne celebrated the works of First Nations artists who picked up the paint brush while they were in prison.

Does pill testing save lives? The Law Report's Damien Carrick visits a pop-up service at a Melbourne music event where substances are checked, and staff talk to partygoers about reducing risk when using drugs. 

This year saw a massive manhunt for alleged police shooter Dezi Freeman in Victoria's mountainous north east. In the past, the 56-year-old has been linked to the sovereign citizens movement. So, who are sovereign citizens? And what impact are they having on Australia's justice system? 

What impact could Victoria's historic treaty have on policy, legislation and governance for the state's First Peoples?

In the United States, there is increasing attention on young people's interactions with AI chatbots. OpenAI is being sued over allegations that its ChatGPT platform caused users to experience delusions and even encouraged some to take their own lives.

In two weeks' time, Australia's social media ban for children under 16 will come into force. How will it work? Will it protect kids from online harm? And could they find ways around the restrictions? 

Are prenuptial agreements always legally watertight? Or can they be tossed out by the courts? The High Court recently handed down a decision that focused on a poorly drafted prenup and to what extent the disgruntled client could sue the lawyers who drafted the leaky document.

November 11 marks the 50th anniversary of the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by Governor-General Sir John Kerr — an event that exposed and tested the architecture of Australia's constitution.

The Australian Law Reform Commission is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The Law Report's Damien Carrick hosted an event in Melbourne to mark its half century.

The implied freedom of political communication has been at the centre of several recent high-profile court decisions. The Law Report asks: do Australians have a constitutional right to freedom of speech? And what form does it take?

The Federal Government says it wants to reform the Freedom of Information system - what's in the proposed changes? And is the law keeping up with the growing number of pornographic deepfake images of young people being shared online?

The High Court has unanimously upheld the use of police evidence obtained by monitoring an encrypted messaging app used by organised criminals. The decision is a huge victory for policing, but does it raise questions about the breadth of Australia's surveillance laws?

As driver assistance technology become more prevalent, a persistent question remains: who is liable in the event of an accident? And looking into a future where fully driverless cars take to Australian roads: what new laws will we need?