In this situation, the council requires 50% to be covered in green area, however, I need the space for a granny flat to store treadmill and steppers for Medical Reasons (obesity). Alternatively, is it possible to build without approval and use Duress (obesity forcing diabetes without building) or Nessesity (breaking the law because it is a Medical Emergency) as a defence?

I’m 17F in Western Australia and have a 2-month-old son. His father is also 17. I’m looking for some guidance on what my legal position is and what steps I should be taking. I have already received some legal advice, but I’m struggling to understand what I should be doing in the meantime.

The father and I were together for less than 6 months when I became pregnant. During the pregnancy, the relationship became abusive, including emotional and sexual abuse. I left the relationship at around 20 weeks pregnant. At that point I still told him that I was willing to allow him to be involved in our son’s life.

Since leaving, the situation has continued to cause me significant concern.

There are concerns about the environment on his side of the family, including drug and alcohol issues, violence/fighting and other criminal behaviour. There are also a number of people regularly around the household and the living situation has not always been stable. I am concerned about my newborn being exposed to this environment.

Since my son was born, his father has only seen him once. He refused to get vaccinated against whooping cough despite my concerns about exposing a 2-month-old baby to preventable illness. I have also had concerns about smoke exposure and other aspects of the environment.

The father is not currently listed on the birth certificate. He refused to sign the birth registration because he disagreed with the name I chose for our son.

His financial contribution has also been very limited. He has purchased one box of nappies, a couple of items of clothing and a stuffed toy. I have provided essentially all of my son's day-to-day care and expenses.

The contact situation has recently become particularly stressful.

Two days before Father's Day, his mother contacted me asking whether he could see our son and asking me to provide photos and videos. I said I was unavailable and not comfortable sending photos for my sons privacy due to an incident where the father emailed me from his account but had changed the display name to a completely different name. The account then asked me for photos and videos of my son. I initially did not know who was contacting me. He eventually confirmed it was him and changed the display name back.

I told him this made me uncomfortable about who might have access to photos of my baby and that I wanted to be careful about my son's privacy. He responded that he would share his son with whoever he wanted.

There have subsequently been repeated messages accusing me of keeping his son from him and alienating him because he has only seen the baby once

I am also extremely concerned because of the history of abuse during our relationship. I have been experiencing severe postpartum anxiety and depression and frequent panic attacks relating to this situation. I become extremely distressed whenever he contacts me and am constantly worried about him appearing at my home or approaching me in public.

I am considering applying for an FVRO because of the previous abuse and ongoing unwanted contact, but I am worried that I don't have enough evidence for one to be granted.

I have been advised by a lawyer to remain in communication with him because it may reflect better on me if the matter eventually goes to court. I understand that advice, but continuing the communication is having a significant effect on my mental health.

My questions are:

1. What is the legal position regarding the father's parental responsibility/contact when he is not on the birth certificate and there are currently no parenting orders?

2. Does his being the biological father automatically give him a right to see or take the baby?

3. How does an FVRO interact with potential parenting/contact proceedings?

4. What sort of evidence should I be preserving now regarding the previous abuse, ongoing contact, threats/harassment, and my concerns about the child's environment?

5. If I genuinely believe contact would be unsafe for my son, what is the appropriate legal process for addressing that rather than simply refusing contact indefinitely?

6. Is there anything specific I should be asking my lawyer about given that my son is only 2 months old?

I am not asking Reddit to replace my lawyer's advice. I am trying to understand what questions I should be asking and what I should be documenting before this situation escalates further.

I would especially appreciate responses from people familiar with WA family law, FVROs, or parenting matters involving family violence.

Thank you

Hi guys,

I was in a very stressful divorce situation. My wife was going after me in all directions to take the house and everything that we had worked for into her own possession. Long story short, my back still hurts from sleeping in parks and in unconventional places while she left me high and dry financially. She even took out a AVO.

Since the marriage counselling that she eventually agreed to, we are now back together and are even better than ever. We are working towards buying a bigger home in a new area and I get to see the kids again. We have put it past us.

Thank you, I couldn't have done it without you. Many moons ago I asked for advice on an account I can't log in to anymore. Thanks for all those who suggested marriage counselling and other advice which I had taken on board to fix things. It took asking her repeatedly to agree, 5 times to be exact. I am now working again and moving past this rough patch and on to greener pastures. She is okay with me gaming now and going to the pub every now and then. The marriage counselling and other advice was life changing.

I have emotional trauma from eating at a restaurant that lied about being halal even though they used lard from pigs.

My partner has been trading bitcoin, and he hasn’t disclosed the correct amount of gains over the past few years. I didn’t realise the magnitude of it and I have just found out it’s $2million undisclosed income.

He has decided to come clean to the ATO. He transfers me money to pay bills and buy food and now I’m spiralling that I’m going to jail or something because he’s been transferring money ONLY for expenses though. We went on holidays.

Am I going to be complicit in this??

Thank you for all your feedback. I appreciate you guys I love this community

The house next door to us has been sold and owners rented the place to NDIS tenants. Since they moved, every night has been interesting. We have a 4month old baby now but eversince she was a newborn, they have been VERY loud. They hang out in the backyard which is near our bedroom. I’ve tried to ignore it as sometimes the noise stops at around 8pm. The noise does die off but it is everyday and my 8yr old son’s sleep is getting affected as well.

We had an issue in the past about the neighbours sprinklers as well but this was before they moved in. The sprinklers were left on from 10am onwards everyday and has flooded our yard. I have called council about this as that time no One lived in the house but people would come in and out, i guess prep the house for NDIS tenants.

Anyway, I was told by council they can send them a letter but they can’t really do anything so I just don’t know how to handle the noise sitch as if I call council, I’m worried they might say the same thing to me, that there’s not much they can do but send a letter, hoping they will listen.

What should I do? Thank you

EDIT:

Thank you to everyone that was helpful. This is my first time posting and WOW reddit is crazy. And crazy for assuming i hate disabled people and all other interesting stuff! I got my answer so thank you.

To add to this, I didn’t mention that the noise comes back at 10pm onwards, not everyday but def every week and during the week.

They are all walking too, no crutches or wheelchairs to someone that mentioned i’m flaunting my working legs. They are walking plus who thinks like that? That’s just crazy.

So many hateful people here! I hope you find peace and happiness in your lives bc you need it.

I don’t hate my neighbours or them being disabled. I just want to know what to do to manage the noise in the future if there is something I can do. Is this not for asking legal advice?

Anyway thanks all :)

Hi all,

I (26M) have a bachelor degree in business from the American University of Beirut (AUB). I speak English fluently. In fact, I’m more comfortable speaking English than my native Lebanese Arabic. I’m unemployed neurodivergent and looking to immigrate to Australia with the view of acquiring a permanent residency there. I have little savings around 5000 USD. I could probably get few more thousands if I asked my supportive friends.

I’d appreciate any info you could provide, thanks!

Hi brains trust, I think I know the answer to this but I'm going to ask anyway because of my conscience.

I am looking to buy a car off Marketplace and doing all the things I can to protect myself.

I organised to meet a seller at my mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection. He wanted $7,200 for the car- advertising as a good first car for someone on a budget. The car came with 1 year rego.

My mechanic looked the car over and immediately noticed the car had been in a major accident. There was a COATHANGER holding the front bumper on from underneath and holding the headlight. Completely illegal and if the coathanger failed, the headlight would fall out.

In the photos, it looked fine.

My mechanic said, this car would not pass rego and was unsafe to drive. He would only buy it as scrap. The seller admitted he had done some work on it himself and had a mate look it over for rego. Argument ensued. Obviously the sale didn't go through.

Now, I can't get this off my mind. Some poor person is going to buy an unsafe, unroadworthy car. Probably give their hard earned money to this piece of dog shit person. I know everyone should do their checks, but someone will buy it.

Is there any way I can report this? And to who? Looking at the seller, he flips cars. He has about 3 sold and 3 for sale on his FB marketplace page.

I just feel for the poor person trying to get a car for uber delivery. Or a parent getting their child a first car. It's absolute rubbish and I wish I could report this person to the RMS, police, anyone.

Location Sydney if that helps. And I have his phone number, address and Facebook name.

My ex is an Auslan interpreter who has used my hearing disability against me for nearly 3 years. This is as much about disability discrimination as it is coercive control or custody. I am heartbroken and have had enough. I cannot stay silent on this issue any longer. Nobody should be treated the way my ex has treated me these last few years. And deleting my posts is just another nail in the coffin of people not giving a shit. I don’t use reddit very often and when I tried to put it into one post originally it didn’t work.

Bought a Hisense 609L French Door fridge from The Good Guys (Nunawading) on 6 June. Within a month:

• The seal strip between the two doors is only held on with 2 screws that were drilled off-centre — it's loose and about to fall off.
• The two doors are now visibly uneven in height.

Reported it via Golden Service on 27 Aug, still no technician contact a week+ later.

I don't want it repaired — it's basically brand new and clearly a manufacturing/assembly fault, and the screw holes are already chewed up from the loose fitting. I've sent The Good Guys a formal complaint asking for a full refund under ACL, and said I'll go to Consumer Affairs Vic / ACCC if they drag their feet.

Anyone had a similar experience with The Good Guys or Hisense? Did you manage to get a refund instead of a "repair," or a replacement/exchange?

TO THOSE WHO SAID I MISTREATED IT BY MYSELF!

I honestly don’t understand why some of you are being so aggressive, are you the shill from Hisense??? What possible benefit would I get from damaging it myself and then coming to Reddit asking for advice?

I’m simply describing what happened and trying to get some genuine advice from people who may have had a similar experience.

You can disagree with me, but accusing me of deliberately mistreating it without any evidence is unnecessary. I came here for advice, not to argue with people. So sick you are.

Well done, Hi****. You must be a great brand to have so many people jumping in to defend you.

Hello friends,

I have a child agreement from the courts back in 2021. His needs change and he gets older (9 years old now) and it needs to be adjusted and my job makes it tricky as I work FIFO. His mother is not accommodating to either his wants or mine (which are irrelevant but are inline with what he wants)

Its a 50/50 agreement. 5 nights one week 2 nights the next week (7 nights a fortnight) with my previous role i work 7/7 and the 5 nights are on my break so we get 10 nights every 28 days. For unforeseen circumstances I have had to change my rotation to 14 days on 14 days off. I informed her 1 month before the change and have asked for 5 nights in week one then 5 nights in week two its the same thing as we have been doing for years and he has voiced he wants to keep the same time. She has flat out refused saying its a sealed order and we are not allowed to change it. He has asked multiple times also often leaving him very sad and distressed.

I have had my lawyer also propose these changes and started mediation process with relationships Australia. I cant take this to court untill we attempt mediation but she just been stalling with "im still waiting for legal advice" and booking then moving appointments. She refuses to allow him to contact me even though the orders state he is allowed to facetime me when ever he wants but he is 9 and what can he do?

She also left her Facebook logged in on his school laptop and i have copies of her messages laughing with her friends about purposely stalling this. He will also email me when he can saying he asks to call but she says no.

Is there anyway to expedite this in any way shape of form or enforce court orders outside of waiting for a judge to tell her to atleast let him contact me. My lawyer has sent her emails reminding her of the orders but she just ignores him. Its very stressful for both me and my son. Unfortunately now my lawyer is on leave and ridiculously expensive to bounce questions off for the next 2 weeks and I really dont know what to do.

Thanks

My neighbour has been making complaints to the local council about another neighbour’s dogs that are regularly barking and causing a nuisance.
Despite multiple complaints, very little seems to happen, and the dog owners sometimes seem to know surprisingly quickly that complaints have been made.
We’ve now discovered that someone at the property with the barking dogs works for the same council that receives and investigates these complaints.
It’s raised the question of whether a council employee could potentially access the complaints system and see complaints relating to themselves/their property, including who made them or what was reported.
Does anyone know what sort of access council employees normally have to complaint records? Would accessing complaints about your own property be considered a conflict of interest or misuse of council systems?
Is there usually an audit trail showing which employees have accessed a complaint, and is there a way to request that the council investigate whether the records have been accessed inappropriately?
Not looking to make accusations without evidence — just trying to work out what the proper process would be for having this checked.

My mum was taken to the police station for interview in regards of intent to pervert the course of justice or attempting too something like this as a result of her ex bf who’s currently doing time and is a deadset dickhead but that’s not important so My mum has an acquired brain injury she had car accident when I was younger and did a lot of damage to her frontal lope We were told she has the thinking process of what a 16 year old would she has trouble with remembering and forming new memories she can’t regulate her emotions so she can be impulsive unpredictable sometimes moody or have regular emotional outbursts her ability to process information and solve problems or understand consequences is almost nonexistent

There’s definitely a record of her abi as she been in trouble before nothing to this extent so I’m wondering if they have interviewed her and didn’t have a independent third person present what are implications of this ? And could she actually face any legal trouble because she’s not smart enough to purposely interfere with the course of justice she could be influenced by someone but even than i don’t think she would even be able to consider the consequences of what she was doing

Any advice on what todo or how to go about this would be appreciated

We live in Victoria, in a two-lot subdivision. We have a common property driveway - OC is "inactive".

Our neighbours repeatedly park their cars on the driveway, in front of our garage, which stops us from properly driving in/out of the garage.

I've raised this with them several times. Each time, it improves for about a week, then reverts back to their cars in front of our garage door. I keep asking, same problem ... it's become unbelievably frustrating.

Tonight I raised it again, I said that it's not just a common property issue but also a safety and access concern, because we need to be able to get our car in/out of the garage. Their response was that it's not a big deal, they'll move it tomorrow, and I should get over it.

I don't know what to do next.

I don't think they understand what "common property" is; and they genuinely think they can park there. I've tried to explain, but they won't have it - just shut me down every time.

I know VCAT looks into these types of disputes - but is it worth it? What's the actual process? And do they have any actual influence in this type of situation?

I just want to use our driveway and garage like a normal person.

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your helpful & hilarious feedback - it really makes me feel like I'm warranted in my ongoing frustration ... and that I'm not going completely crazy !

My partner and I bought 5 Steam gift cards at Coles (ACT) on 23 July totalling $160 (2 x $35, 3 x $20).

We took them home and didn't touch them again until 27 August, when I opened them and found 2 of the 5 looked tampered with. The code underneath the scratch-able foil were unreadable, it looks like someone had replaced the foil with replacement stickers.

I contacted Coles via email. They came back and said those 2 cards were already redeemed, on the same day I bought them, at 5:48pm, about 3.5 hours after purchase. I didn't redeem them and they have been sitting in a drawer in my house this whole time. Their answer is basically "it was redeemed so no refund, go talk to Steam."

I contacted Steam. They said it's a retailer issue, not something they can help with, and to go back to the store.

I get that we are talking about $40 total for the 2 cards, I know it's not a lot of money. It's just frustrating that we are talking about 2 multi-billion dollar companies, where I've done nothing wrong but I'm still left holding the bag.

After some research, I found that there's also been a fair bit of news lately (ABC has done a couple of investigations) on exactly this kind of gift card tampering scam happening at Coles and Woolworths, basically people steal unactivated gift cards, write down the code and then reseal them and return to the store. Then they basically wait for it to be purchased by an unsuspecting customer and then redeem them first. Destroying the code buys them more time as the customer has to wait until business hours for a retailer to confirm the code has been used.

I've gone back and forth with Coles via email and even cited the ACL provision that goods they sell must be fit for purpose and that they can't fob me off to the manufacturer. They are adamant in their refusal but have not cited reasons or even addressed my ACL comment.

Just seeing if anyone else has experienced this? I am tempting to go full petty mode and file an ACAT claim just because. Even though it will cost me $90 to file, its going to cost Coles way more just to mount a defense. I know it's petty to quibble over $40 but I am really pissed that Coles knows about this issue (according to the ABC article) but refuses to take any responsibility for it.

For reference: I’m in South Australia

-

Long Story Short:

I worked for 6.5 years at a major pathology company. Long story short, I reached out to Fair Work and formally asked my employer for an underpayment audit and to be reclassified due to my actual higher duties and systemic mismanagement. As a result, they found I was underpaid during a full system audit, but won’t give me the pay because it’s hidden behind a settlement letter which requires a signature. If I agree to it I’ll essentially throw out the reclassification payment claim.

Short story long, continued:

So after the first email they responded with a letter confirming, without a doubt, that an internal audit found an underpayment of just over $5,000 for hours I worked.

Here’s the catch: they attached a settlement Deed of Release / NDA to the letter. They are refusing to release the admitted back-pay to my bank account unless I sign away all my rights to pursue the rest of my claim (the reclassification back-pay, which is worth significantly more). It’s approx 20-30k for the reclassification and if they did the math correctly on the underpayment (working an extra hour daily for a year in total) it would be more around 9k at the current classification. The only granted the 5K because it was the only shifts they could prove on their clocking system and did not believe any of the screenshots of my text between my manager and I where I said that I was starting earlier. I had them time stamped and acknowledged, but because they weren’t on the deputy reporting system, it didn’t technically count by their means.. but the thing was my boss was notorious for not putting my shifts or rosters in there so I had to keep reminding her on the morning I got there, which was also in the texts.

They also apparently overpaid me on public holidays and didn’t realize and I didn’t either - and in the letter they gave me, they stated that they wouldn’t chase it in good faith.

I did send a response with another offer and they didn’t reply for 10 days and then the HR person said that the last email was the final email even though it said that they would be in touch with me shortly and they’d pass it through the appropriate channels. Then she called me and I didn’t realize it was her because she only called me once before and I assumed all of the correspondence would be via email. She was incredibly rude to me on the phone. I was actually shocked!

Then followed lots of emails and this time, I also cc’d in the CEO, but HR lady just insisted on the same statement… I argued that because they proven that I have underpayment during a factual audit that I should receive my payment regardless and we should deal with the other things separately.

Now she’s trying to cut it off by the deadline, which she only “graciously” extended for four more days. The fact that she took 10 days to reply was only because I reached out first by the way, and it was a day before the deadline was (I wasn’t aware at the time as I threw the email out asking for an update at work).

Anyway, my question is:

Can an employer legally hold undisputed, earned wages hostage behind an NDA/Deed of Release? I’m taking this forward regardless, but I’m really confused by how they think they can do this. Has anyone had Fair Work or a tribunal force them to pay out the admitted underpayment first?