Law Society Journal Australia

Susai Benjamin OAM and Stephen Macliver AM have been named finalists for the prestigious honour, along with finalists in another five categories. The winners of the Annual Members Awards will be revealed at the Law Society of NSW Annual Members Dinner at ILLUMINA on 20 November. Benjamin has served on the Blacktown City Council since 2012. He came up with the idea of establishing the Toongabbie Legal Centre after identifying the need for greater access to legal services in the local community.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a new guidance to help businesses make “accurate and credible emissions claims”. It encourages Australian businesses making greenhouse gas emissions claims to rely on plausible, “science-based” accounting standards, be clear about the use of purchased credits and consider how consumers are likely to interpret those claims.

By - Oct 28, 2026 4:03 pm AEDT The ferocity of political debate and the language used by politicians in Australia has been in the spotlight ever since the shocking attack on Helen Haines last week. The independent member for Indi lost both legs after allegedly being rammed by a vehicle near her electorate office in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta. She is now in a stable condition.

By - Oct 28, 2026 3:37 pm AEDT Upon the opening of Western Sydney International Airport after a very long wait, LSJ Online looks at the airlines, routes, permits, infrastructure contracts, and human resources involved. The first new international airport built in Australia in over 50 years, Western Sydney International Airport opened to passengers on 25 October. It is capable of handling up to 10 million passengers annually, with estimated growth towards 82 million passengers over coming decades.

Law firm Slater and Gordon Lawyers said they are investigating if ridesharing app Uber has done enough to adequately protect the safety of women passengers, and how the company responded to complaints of driver sexual misconduct, assault and harassment when reported.

By - Oct 28, 2026 9:00 am AEDT Every year, the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner receives thousands of complaints about NSW lawyers. The overwhelming majority are resolved informally or closed, and only a handful ever reach a formal disciplinary finding.

By - Oct 27, 2026 4:24 pm AEDT Hundreds of millions of dollars in legal services could be delivered to the New South Wales legal profession if it takes up the opportunity to make Sydney a global legal hub, according to Law Society of NSW President, Ronan MacSweeney. He was speaking at the launch of Making the case: Sydney as a global legal hub, a report by the Committee for Sydney, in partnership with the Law Society of NSW and the Business of Cities.

By - Oct 26, 2026 5:06 pm AEDT For solicitors practising in a boutique firm or as sole practitioners, planning what happens to your firm if something happens or when you retire, is an important consideration. For those practising in the regions, there are often additional considerations particularly where the firm has been operated by the same family for generations or the firm has been serving the local community for over a century.

The discussion, introduced by Newcastle Law Society President James Bartley and facilitated by Newcastle Bar Association President Lizzie McLaughlin, gave students and practitioners an opportunity to hear the former High Court judges discuss changes in the legal profession, judicial decision making and the values they consider essential to a legal career. Although their recollections spanned decades, much of their advice was just as relevant to practitioners today.

The case against Apple was brought by Epic Games, creator of the hugely successful game Fortnite. In a 217 page judgment delivered in the Federal Court on 22 October, Justice Jonathan Beach found Apple Inc had engaged in conduct contravening s 46(1) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).