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Marsdens Law Group has been committed to servicing the legal needs of the Macarthur community for more than 50 years. As we have always done, Marsdens is committed to continuing this service during the COVID-19 health crisis.

A Regulation has been made giving effect to previous law changes allowing for the early release on parole of certain inmates. The changes mean that certain classes of inmate can be released if it is considered necessary to do so because of the risk to public health or the order and security of correctional facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To protect everyone’s health and safety, the majority of parenting cases are being dealt with by telephone or by video conferencing. The Courts are doing their best to triage new matters and to progress ongoing ones, in extraordinary circumstances.

The Federal Government, on 30 March 2020, announced the introduction of the JobKeeper stimulus package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The package aims to help out eligible struggling businesses, by assisting with the wage bill for employees.

On 2 April 2020 the Australian Government announced a new Relief Package. From Monday 6 April 2020, weekly payments will be made directly to the service instead of the Child Care Subsidy and the Additional Child Care Subsidy which were previously available. This is designed to keep services running.

Under new powers granted last week, Police can now issue infringement notices of $1,000.00 for individuals and $5,000.00 for corporations in NSW that breach COVID-19 Directions such as social distancing and isolation requirements or restrictions on public gatherings. This is in addition to the existing offences that can result in fines of up to $11,000.00 (plus a further $5,500.00 per day for a continuing offence) and jail sentences of up to six months for individuals, and fines of up to $55,000.00 (plus $27,500.00 per day for a continuing offence) for corporations.

The world as we know it is changing as COVID 19 affects every aspect of our day to day lives. As the media coverage shows, it is affecting everyone globally and it is not clear on when things will get back to the way of life as we know it, if it all.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impact upon all businesses in Australia, many employees across the nation are working remotely from home.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to a great number of changes to the way we work, socialise and generally interact. The criminal justice system is no different, and a number of laws and processes have been modified to limit physical interaction and protect vulnerable people during the pandemic. We have set out some of the more important changes below, but it is important to remember that the medical advice and the law around this situation is changing rapidly, at a state and national level. This information is accurate at the time of writing, but please contact us to obtain the most up-to-date advice.

During this global pandemic and testing times, now more than ever is the time to ensure your business and you are protected.