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Local Court update
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The Local Court of NSW, like all other organisations, has been, and will be, affected by the rising COVID cases across the state. Accordingly, the Chief Magistrate, in consultation with stakeholders, has made the decision as of Friday 7 January to vacate all defended hearings (including hearings where the defendant is in custody) state wide up until and including Friday 21 January 2022. The matters will remain listed for call over, parties who are legally represented are excused from attendance and legal practitioners can appear via AVL or email to seek a further hearing date. Until further notice, all other matters are to proceed in accordance with this Memo. |
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Supreme Court update
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The Supreme Court has advised urgent civil hearings during the court vacation should occur via AVL, unless the judge deems an in-person hearing to be absolutely essential. A decision on hearings from Monday, 31 January (post vacation) will be made on Monday, 24 January.
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Children's Court update
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The Children’s Court has reviewed its operations in light of the increasing rates of community transmission of COVID-19. This notice applies as of Monday 10 January and supersedes all other notices unless otherwise stated. |
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Extension to deadline for applications for Land Tax Relief to 28 Feb 2022
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NSW commercial and residential landowners may be eligible to receive a reduction of up to 100 per cent of land tax payable for the 2021 land tax year if they provided a reduction in rent to a tenant between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021. Applications for land tax relief for the period 1 July 2021 – 31 December 2021 have been extended until 28 February 2022. Read more here.
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NSW LRS Lodgment Office attendance by appointment only
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The NSW Land Registry Services Lodgment Office will resume an Appointment Only service. This is likely to remain in place until end of January 2022, and LRS will update customers. More here. |
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Temporary COVID signing measures extended: Office of Registrar General
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The Registrar General has extended temporary rules allowing the electronic signing of a range of land registry instruments. The Conveyancing Rules (COVID-19) Amendment (Version 2) – December 2021 was published on 21 December 2021 and operates to extend provisions that were otherwise set to expire at the end of 2021. Read more here. |
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Law Society’s guidance paper: implications of electronic witnessing provisions
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The Law Society of NSW’s guidance paper on electronic witnessing has been updated to reflect the recent legislative changes making the NSW remote witnessing provisions permanent. This has implications for the method of executing wills, enduring powers of attorney, enduring guardianship appointments, deeds, statutory declarations, affidavits and oaths. Read the updated guidance here.
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100 million rapid antigen tests for NSW
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The first batch of 100 million Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will be distributed to NSW essential public workers and vulnerable communities from this week to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Premier Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Government will receive 50 million tests from mid-January to February, with a further 50 million tests being sourced for delivery from February and into March. NSW Health and the Department of Communities and Justice will jointly lead distribution of the RATs, with logistical support from NGOs and Primary Health Networks. Read the Government’s release here.
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New precautionary measures now in place
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The NSW Government has announced a range of precautionary measures to ease pressure on the health system and community ahead of an anticipated peak in COVID cases later this month. From 8 - 27 January, 2022, singing and dancing will be prohibited in hospitality venues (including pubs, clubs, nightclubs, bars, and restaurants), entertainment facilities, and major recreation facilities. This prohibition will not apply for weddings, or for students and instructors and performers in the settings listed above. Major events scheduled for the coming weeks will be risk-assessed by NSW Health and the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC). Event organisers should assume their event will proceed unchanged unless they are contacted by NSW Health to advise otherwise. More here.
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