Melbourne Law School - Theses
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ItemThe law relating to the rights and duties of landlords and tenants concerning residential premises : a re-assessment( 1975)Despite its vital importance to a large segment of the Australian public, very little attention in the past has been given to the need for a review of the existing law relating to the renting of residential premises. Although a large body of consumer protection legislation has been enacted in recent years by the Australian Government and many States, no such protection has been extended to consumers in the rental housing market. Indeed, although piecemeal legislative changes have been made from time to time by each State, there has never been a systematic all embracing review of the legal rights and duties of landlord and tenants of residential premises covering tenancies both in the private sector and in the public sector. This thesis is designed to rectify this deficiency. It argues for the need for a fundamental re-assessment of three aspects of the rights and duties of landlords and tenants: the common law principles, supplemented by State legislation, which are applicable to those tenancies unaffected by rent control legislation; the existing systems of rent control in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia; and the relationship of three of the State Housing Commissions with their tenants. Changes in governmental policy are suggested where appropriate. The need for the various reforms and policy changes was dictated not only by library research but also by a' considerable, volume of field research undertaken in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide in the preparation of this study. The reforms suggested by the author represent a combination of original ideas and experience in other common law jurisdictions, especially the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The author has attempted to mould the reforms in such a manner as to preserve the most useful parts of the existing landlord-tenant law while abolishing those parts which have either outlived their usefulness or are unfair to one or both of the parties. The aim throughout has been to strike a fair balance between the rights and obligations of the landlord and the tenant.
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ItemTax administration -- the assessment( 1981)One area of procedure encompassed by the topic, Tax Administration, is the statutory assessment. It is that area of Tax Administration to which this thesis is directed. The making of an income tax assessment is probably to be regarded as the primary function of the Commissioner of Taxation under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. Almost every action and procedure undertaken by the Commissioner has some relationship to his duty to make assessments. The assessment-making procedure, which is fundamental (in the scheme of the Act) to the creation of an enforceable obligation to pay income tax, includes a process of applying the provisions of the Act to a state of facts with a view to determining the liability of the taxpayer concerned. The nature of the assessment is discussed by reference to the statutory provisions which authorise the making of and objection to an assessment. The thesis proceeds by way of examination of the following topics: the assessment, the notice of assessment, validity in procedure and "assessment", authority to make an assessment, amended assessment, right to challenge an assessment. (The final chapter considers the assessment in the context of the review procedure of Part V of the Income Tax Assessment Act) . A theme of the thesis is that the Income Tax Assessment Act is concerned only with a valid assessment, that is, one made intra vires, and further, that not every assessment-like calculation or determination is the assessment contemplated by the Act. Thus, if the requirements of "assessment" are not satisfied then there is no "assessment" even though there is jurisdiction to assess in the particular circumstances. Where there is jurisdiction to assess then any assessment made will be a valid assessment, and this notwithstanding any identifiable mala fides or impropriety on the part of the Commissioner of Taxation or his delegate which is associated with the making of that assessment.