Keypoint Law

My house has been designed to maximise solar access – what happens if my neighbour wants to redevelop their property and block the sun? “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”, as the saying attributed to W.E. Hickson goes – and this is exactly what a landowner in Casuarina on NSW’s far north coast has done in the Court of Appeal following a previous attempt to protect the amount of sunlight falling upon her property in winter (unsuccessfully, as is explained below).

Modular and prefabricated building methods are rapidly becoming part of the mainstream. Faster build times, reduced waste, and a genuine capacity to address the housing affordability crisis make modular construction an attractive sector. But for lenders, this sector comes with a distinct set of legal and structural risks that the traditional construction finance model was never designed to accommodate.

The high income threshold is rising, payday super is commencing, and award wages are going up. Here’s what to action before 1 July. A number of important employment law changes take effect from 1 July 2026. Whether you are a small business or a large employer, these changes will affect your obligations and in some cases, your exposure. Below is a summary of the key changes and what you should be doing now to prepare. The Headlines From 1 July 2026: The high-income threshold is increasing to $190,100.

On 10 June 2026, the High Court of Australia handed down its judgment in Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) v Bendel [2026] HCA 18, dismissing the Commissioner’s appeal by a 5–2 majority. The decision conclusively determined that an unpaid present entitlement (UPE) owed by a discretionary trust to a corporate beneficiary was not a “loan” for the purposes of section 109D of Division 7A of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (the 1936 Act).

Over the last 12 months, we have welcomed 11 new senior lawyers to our firm, further enhancing the firm’s offering across banking & finance, corporate & commercial, dispute resolution, insolvency & restructuring, taxation, financial services regulatory, estates, charities, intellectual property litigation and planning & environment law.

An important regulatory change that will affect how law firms work with clients from 1 July 2026 The Australian Government is extending Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) laws to cover certain services provided by lawyers, accountants and other selected occupations. These laws are regulated by AUSTRAC and will be familiar to many clients who have completed identification and verification processes used by banks, lenders, and other financial institutions.

Generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and others, are now part of everyday workplace life. Employees use them to draft correspondence, summarise documents, and assist with decisions, often well ahead of any formal policy or oversight. This creates real legal risk.

Keypoint Law is delighted to announce its finalist position for the coveted 2026 Australian Law Awards’ Law Firm of the Year Award. This category is open to all law firms in Australia. In 2018, The Australian Law Awards awarded Keypoint ‘Boutique Law Firm of the Year’. In 2021, the firm won ‘State/Regional Firm of the Year’ and in 2022, the firm won ‘NewLaw Firm of the Year’. In 2023, we were also named a finalist in the category of ‘Law Firm of the Year’.

On 25 May 2026, the Victorian Commissioner of State Revenue issued Revenue Ruling DA-26v3, replacing the earlier DA-26v2, along with a companion ruling (DA-071) dealing specifically with registered domestic builders. Both rulings take effect from 1 June 2026. Aggregation itself is not new; the SRO has long had the power to treat related transactions as a single transaction for duty purposes. What is new is the updated guidance on how the Commissioner will exercise that power.

The Fair Work Commission has handed down its 2026 Annual Wage Review decision — and for employers, the clock is ticking. If you have award covered employees, or pay minimum rates, you need to ensure your rates of pay are complaint from 1 July 2026. Here is what you need to know, and what you need to do. The Headlines Modern award wages are increasing by 4.75% from 1 July 2026. The National Minimum Wage is increasing by approximately 6% to $26.44 per hour ($1,004.90 per week).