Evaluation Of A Psychosocial Assessment By Doc Parole...

Ms. Smith is a 30 year old single, Caucasian female referred for a psychosocial assessment by DOC Parole Officer Ward. She reports she was released from prison 2 months ago after a 3 year sentence for attempted escape due to not notifying her probation officer of her address change. Ms. Smith states due to her past substance use history and trauma experience her referral sources ordered counseling to address complex issues related to her emotional and physical well-being. Ms. Smith reported she grew up in Colorado Springs and was primarily raised by her mother. She shared that her parents separated when she was an infant and has two brothers, one is incarcerated in Colorado for distribution of a controlled substance, and she is unaware the location of her second brother. She has 2 children: Isaiah, 8, and Angela, 4 years; Isaiah lives with his father in Washington and Angela resides with her maternal grandparents. Ms. Smith states she lost custody of her children due to her substance abuse issues and mental health complications. Ms. Smith reported that she is introverted, experiences severe social anxiety, and has no friends she can rely on for support. She has no interest in building new relationships due to severe trust issues with people. She would like to focus on rebuilding her life, establishing her own residence and build trust with her family. Ms. Smith reported severe sexual abuse by her biological father, between the ages 6-12. She attempted to advise her

Pregnancy in Our Youth What Gives - 755 Words

Throughout the past fifty years, the rate of teenagers and adolescents becoming pregnant has increased dramatically. It was believed during the time of previous generations that if you were to become pregnant, you were not fit to finish school to take care of the child. If it was even attempted to finish school, most girls would drop out anyway due to the shame set upon their peers. Now, in 2013, it is not uncommon to see a fourteen or fifteen year old who is expecting a child. We have television programs, such as, â€Å"Teen Mom† and â€Å"16 Pregnant† show the wonders of babies having babies. So what has changed in the mindsets of our youth over the past few generations? Why are we seeing so many more girls becoming impregnated at, what seems,†¦show more content†¦It is also popularly believed that if the child is going to end up with the same or a similar future as their parents, they will only have to achieve that much; even if that means dropping out of school or starting a family in hopes that their child will be better off. In today’s society, it becomes increasingly harder and harder for the younger people to being responsible while sexual relationships, which can lead to peer pressure. Every day a college student, high school student, and even a middle school student feel the pressure to have sex. Adolescents feel that if they can fit in with their peers, then they will be accepted and more likely to make friends (livestrong.com). It is hard to know the consequences or severity of the act when you are feeling out of place. Speaking from personal experience, I too almost fell in that downfall. I did not feel pressure from my boyfriend once, but rather from my peers. Luckily time and reason showed me that I was not ready for the financial or emotional necessities of a potential child. If a child is ever feeling pressure from anyone to devote themselves into said act without feeling ready, they should immediately seek a c ounselor for help. Even though many teens think it will help improve their appearance amongst their colleagues, the chance of having a baby and adding to the stress of school is not worth it (livestrong.com). One ofShow MoreRelatedSexual Education Should Be Taught At Public Schools1219 Words   |  5 Pagesoccur in our society today. Some of the debates are viewed as being unnecessary. While others are looked at as more serious topics, one of the newest debates is whether or not sexual education should be taught to our youth of today in public schools. Sexual education should be taught to our youth in public schools. 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Business Analysis Of Seek Limited Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss abbout the Business Analysis Of Seek Limited. Answer: Introduction SEEK is the leading company in online employment industry in Australia and New Zealand. SEEK operates in online employment, education and volunteer industries. And during the past 12 years, the company has successfully expanded the business in 14 countries. International markets are becoming more and more significant for SEEK. The expansion brings SEEK great financial success and some potential risks. This report evaluates the operation of SEEK, based on 4 main analysis, macroeconomic analysis, industry analysis, business strategy analysis and accounting analysis. The report will demonstrate how the 4 analyses would affect the operation of SEEK. Firstly, the report will highlight 5 economic factors and describe the current global economy that would influence SEEK in macroeconomic analysis. Secondly, the report will evaluate the level of competition and porters diagram in industry analysis. Then, the report will highlight the success factors and risk factors of business strategy and e valuate the sustainability of SEEK in business strategy analysis. Lastly, the report will provide accounting analysis, based on the six-step accounting analysis framework. Macroeconomic Analysis Global economy After the financial crisis in 2007 - 2008 and the Eurozone crisis in 2010 2012, the global economy undertook the tempestuous unstable periods. The world economy was slightly warming during 2012 to 2014 as the figure shown. In 2014 to 2016, the global economic presented a downward trend again due to the global commodity price shocks. The Seek Pty Ltd operate in a downturn period through the large floating exchange rate and unexpected global GDP growth, at 2014 to 2016. At last year, the growth of world gross product has strengthened, as the fading of the continuous obstruction from those crises. (United Nations 2018). The growth of the global economic reached the peak from 2011 until now. As the increasing trend, the labour market has obvious improvement in most of countries. Although the trend of the growth of world gross product is developed in the right direction, the imbalance of the world economic cannot be ignored. The stable improvement of the economic from developed courtiers may occur the overlooking of required emergency aid from the poverty countries. (Donna Tariq 2017) In 2017, there are at least 83 million people lived in the starvation that have 70% more compare with 2015. In addition, the weak investment and low productivity caused by the financial crisis still threaten the long-term potential of global economy. (United Nation, 2018) Regional economies The Seek limited span across 18 countries, including China, Australian, South East Asia, Brazil, New Zealand, Mexico and some unallocated countries. In 14 of those countries, the Seek Limited stand market leading position. The company was incorporated and domicile in Australia, but the proportion of the sales revenue Australian get is 29.8%, the second position over all the 18 countries (IBIS 2017). The Seek Limited got around 30.2% of total revenue from China by the ZhaoPin. The coal transportation was disrupted, and the housing investment was sluggish because of the striking of the Cyclone Debbie at the end of March 2017 (IMF 2017). The heavy weather lead to the growth of the economy only increase 2.2% which was lower than the global growth 3.6% and the forecast of 3% in last year (Kirrily 2017). In addition, according to the bank tighten the loaning standard, and the government increase tax levy to the oversea investment, the falling in the housing price were obvious in Sydney and Melbourne. As the downturn of the housing price, the growth rate of household net wealth was lower, more people may have a negative equity, against the consumer spending, which eventually have a negative impact on the economic growth. (Tejvan 2017) On the other hand, the Wage price index holistic was in a downturn period from 2011 until 2017, but the WPI increase 0.5% in third quarter 2017 and 2% over the year as the figure shown (RBA 2017). Due to the growth of the household debt and the decline of the income growth, the household debt-to-income ratio will have a small rise. (RBA 2017) As the increase of debt to income ratio, the demand of the change a new job will increase which indicate in the increasing of Seek Limited sales revenue in ANZ employment. Industry Analysis SEEK operations are based in the Online Recruitment Services industry which main purpose to advertise online job advertisements to the wider public. Porters five forces can be used to give a deeper understanding of SEEKs position within this industry and will allow further analysis to be had. The threat of new entrants to this market is low as there is a high barrier to entry. Although having a high entry barrier, the industrys profit margins still attract a great number of competitors to the market. The high costs of maintaining online databases and the economies of scales needed to provide advertisers an incentive as very challenging. Many entrants fail to gain any standing within the market as SEEKs reputation and expansive reach proves very hard to compete against, as SEEK was one of the first entrants to this market and has built an established relationship with many firms. Substitutes to SEEK within this industry are quite limited but slowly growing. As printed media is slowly fading as the market turns more towards digital advertisements, the rise of other digital competitors is rising. Different ideas, such as LinkedIn, have provided a challenge to SEEKs dominance in the market. The bargaining power of customers is quite low as there is a high concentration within the market and thus the customers do not have much variety to the companies they can choose from. Apart from more niche targeting companies, very few have the reputation and reach that SEEK does.The bargaining power of suppliers, like that of the customers is very limited. Again, due to the reach and marketing position of SEEK, suppliers in the market have very little power when dealing with SEEK. Lastly, industry competition is quite low due to a high concentration in the industry. SEEKs largest competitor would be Adzuna, which is only less than 5% estimated market share (IBIS World). This shows the dominance of seek within this market. Competitors have started targeting niche markets to try and gain a foothold in the industry, as the huge influx of job listings can prove quite difficult to navigate. Overall SEEK holds a dominant place, nearly a monopoly, within its respective market. Its reputation and reach sway many when choosing to find either new jobs or more human resources. Business Strategy Analysis Key success factors SEEK company has been through a successful year in 2017 both in the financial and strategic area. The key strategic factors are increasing market share in key target market and reinvestment. In terms of the financial factor, international transaction contributes 60% of total revenue of $1billion which is the first time SEEK reached $1 billion in twenty years history (SEEK 2017, p.5). Expanding into international market has given SEEK huge return in the achievement of financial objectives. According to annual report 2017, the business strategy includes four phases, Australian and New Zealand online marketplace commenced in 1997, International online marketplace and education commenced in 2005, Talent sourcing and placement commenced in 2012 and Human capital management commenced in 2015. Furthermore, in 2017, SEEK has made a significant organizational change in order to capture more opportunities in the international market. Australian and New Zealand online employment marketplace SEEK attempts to become the leading company in Australia and New Zealand in the employment industry. To achieve that, SEEK makes uses of technology and internet that enables SEEK to reduce cost largely as well as increase the effectiveness and efficiency. SEEK's low cost by using the internet is a competitive advantage over all competitors. Therefore, SEEK encourages cost leadership and use the philosophy in day-to-day business. According to the annual report 2017, the monthly visit is over 35 million and the brand awareness is up to 82% that indicates SEEK is the leading company in the industry. (SEEK 2017, p.1-3) International Online Employment Marketplace and Education Expansion SEEK has been expanding the business into other countries over last 12 years. Also, SEEK has been expanding into the education business.SEEK has been operating the business in 18 countries globally, with market leadership in 14 countries. (SEEK 2017, p.3). Talen Sourcing In the last five years, SEEK has successfully become the market leader in the online employment marketplace and SEEK still continues to grow and maintain leadership. In terms of talent sourcing strategy, data is a critical part of SEEK. Therefore, SEEK keeps capturing more data and providing candidates with more alternatives. The data improves the efficiency and effectiveness of SEEK in existing business. For example, using more data enables SEEK to reduce a job candidate from about 50 candidates down to 5-10 most relevant candidates in the advertiser center (candidate management tool), which increases the efficiency both for SEEK and hirers. Human Capital Management In Australia and New Zealand, the human capital management industry is full of opportunities. SEEK has identified some problems in the industry. Sometimes, the cost is high and the efficiency is low. So, given the capability that SEEK has, SEEK aims to solve the problems. At the same time, SEEK has invested in making new products and services, such as Ximble and Workana. Key risks factors As discussed in macroeconomic analysis, from 2014 the global economy has been experiencing downwards trend. From the financial perspective, SEEK could be affected by the decreasing of the global economy. And the floating exchange rate could influence the international market of SEEK. On the other hand, SEEKs business strategy has some risks factors as well. In the Australian and New Zealand online employment marketplace strategy, SEEK is faced with risks that are from new entrants in the industry and existing competitors who try to take more market share, such as Gumtree and My career, as SEEKs business strategy is to maintain the market leader in Australian and New Zealand market. IT Security The potential failure of IT security could have a significant influence on SEEKs all strategies. SEEKs operation is mostly operated online. So, it makes IT security one of the biggest risks. Unexpected disaster or event, like hacker attack, could leak the privacy of candidates and hirers, which could lead to loss of customers and damage to SEEKs reputation. Change of Legislation in International Market SEEK is operating in 14 countries as mentioned in the business strategy. Change of policy and legislation is beyond SEEK's control. It is a principal risk that SEEK needs to consider in the international online employment marketplace strategy. Sustainability SEEK has devoted time and money to keep sustainable development. The company does not only focus on making the successful financial result but also, contributing to the society. SEEK Volunteer, as one of the most significant participants in returning to society, provides internal employees opportunity to volunteer in the society. And every dollar donated by employees can be matched by Small Change Workplace Giving program. In terms of the environment, SEEK has created SEEK Green Sustainability program to achieve the environment-friendly purpose. Apart from that, SEEK has several strategies to be sustainable. Employee engagement SEEK continues to keep high employee engagement which can build employees confidence and make them feel respected, which in return could improve the work efficiency and effectiveness. In 2017, SEEK has been recognized as the best employer by Aon Hewitt in Australia and New Zealand for the high employee engagement. Learning and Development In 2017, SEEK has initiated a program called Coaching for SEEK success which custom-designed learning program for leaders is.(SEEK 2017, p.11) It aims at making leaders more skilled and confident to lead the team and teach the team. The more skilled leaders would corporate the team well and provide better training to its employees that enables the teams to work more wisely and efficiently. Also, learning development would keep employees with up-to-date skills and trigger innovation. Equal opportunity SEEK operates business all over the world. Therefore, it brings SEEK a large number of employees with the different background, like language, age, religion. SEEK respects and values the diversity of employees which provides the company with more potential to succeed in the future. The company policy promotes that every employee from any workplace is given the equal opportunity. The equal opportunity forms parts of the company culture. SEEK Hackathon During the financial year 2017, SEEK has successfully held two Hackathon events. The Hackathon event is to gather employees to share ideas which can be possibly made into prototypes, which helps SEEK innovate. It is a great opportunity for SEEK to find some future products that could meet the future's needs of the society, because, the customers'needs are changing constantly. It increases the sustainability for SEEK in the aspect of future needs. At the same time, SEEK Hackathon increases the employee engagement in some way. Gender balance In the financial year 2017, the Female at SEEK Thrive(FAST) was introduced. It aims to be aware of any career development barriers that could exist for female employees and eliminate them. It would increase employees satisfaction and higher employee satisfaction attracts more skilled potential employees from the society which leads to sustainability for SEEK in the aspect of future employees. Accounting Analysis The accounting analysis of a business entity is carried out for measuring, recognizing, presenting and disclosing the information presented in the financial statements. The evaluation is carried out for facilitating the decision-making of the end-users through assessing the liquidity, stability and profitability position of a business entity (Wahlen, Baginski and Bradshaw, 2017). The evaluation of the financial information of a business entity through its financial statements helps in estimating its future performance and facilitating managers and investors to undertake important decisions (Deegan, 2013). The accounting analysis of Seek Limited will enable in evaluating its accounting system and therefore developing an in-depth understanding of the accounting policies and procedures. It consists of the following six steps: Identification of Key Accounting Policies Assessing the Accounting Flexibility The first two steps in the accounting analysis aim at analyzing the accounting policy of the company and the underlying flexibility in its accounting system. The accounting flexibility refers to the ability of the company to change its accounting policies and procedures as per the business needs and requirements (Macve, 2015). It can be analyzed by assessing the accounting methods used for carrying out the financial transactions of a business entity: Revenue Recognition: The Group recognizes the revenue stream at the fair value of the consideration to be received and is measured in the financial statements as net of sales taxes such as GST and VAT. The revenue is only recognized when it can be measured appropriately and it is expected that there will be the realization of future economic benefits to the entity (Penman, 2011). The accounting policy adopted by the company is as per the AASB 118 standard and there is less accounting flexibility in this accounting policy as the company recognizes revenue by standard accounting practices (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017) Intangible Assets: The Group is involved in providing technology solutions, and therefore its intangible assets are of great significance for it to achieve its objectives and goals. These assets mainly include goodwill, brands, Licenses, software and website development. They are recognized in the financial statements on the cost or at the fair value if acquired by business combination. The intangible assets are considered to have indefinite useful life and are mortised over their expected useful lifes (Dickie, 2006). They are allocated to a cash-generating-unit (CGU) and are examined annually for determining the impairment suffered by them. The recoverable amount of the CGU is assessed through the use of value-in-use or fair value through reducing the cost of disposal. The management adopts the assumptions of cash flow forecasts, application of terminal value growth rate and pre-tax discount rates. The company adopts flexibility in the accounting policies used for recognizing the va lue of intangible assets (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Business Combination: The Group has adopted the use of acquisition method of accounting for identifying and recording all the business combinations. The consideration is paid out at the fair value of the assets that are acquired and liabilities that are assumed (Fridson and Alvarez, 2011). However, for any acquisition made on acquisition bases. The non-controlling interest is recognized by the Group in acquire at fair value. There is less accounting flexibility as it has adopted the use of this significant accounting policy over a long period (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Segment Information: The operating segments of the Group have been aggregated consistently as per the internal reporting framework provided by the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM). It has adopted high flexibility in segment reporting as per the changes in the external environment. The transformation in the business model of the company has ceased majority of its business operations and therefore the segment reporting procedures of the Group are subject to larger flexibility (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Trade Receivables: The trade receivables are recorded at the amount stated in the invoice based on the amount that is likely to be received from the customer less the provision amount that is estimated to be unrecoverable. The provision for doubtful debts will be included in the operations and administration expense in the consolidated income statement (Robinson, Henry, Pirie and Broihahn, 2015). Thus, accounting flexibility may be taken by the Group at the time of creating the allowance for doubtful debts (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Evaluation of Accounting Strategies The evaluation of the accounting strategies used by Seek Limited will help in examining the authenticity and reliability of the financial information disclosed by the Group. The accounting strategy adopted by the Group is examined through comparing its performance with the top competitors (Healy and Palepu, 2012). As such, the key competitors of the Group selected for evaluation of the accounting strategy is Monster Worldwide Inc. Both the companies relatively adopt the use of same accounting policies for developing financial statements. The business combinations are recognised through the use of acquisition method of accounting and the trade receivables are accounted by considering the allowance for doubtful debts (Schmidlin, 2014). The intangible assets are recognised at fair value that is calculated through estimating the present value of estimated future cash flows. Both the companies value their assets and liabilities through the use of methods of fair value (Monster Annual Repo rt, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that both the companies adopts the use of relatively same accounting strategies and as such SEEK limited uses the accounting policies as per the industry norms (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Also, it can be analyzed from the remuneration structure of SEEK Limited that it does not adopt the use of short-term incentives that relies upon the performance of the executives and managers. The Group provides long-term incentives to the executives and managers as per the growth in share price over a three-year performance period. Therefore, it can be said that clear and transparent remuneration structure developed by the management minimizes the occurrence of fraudulent accounting strategies for gaining personal benefits of attaining higher incentives (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Evaluating the Quality of Disclosure The overall analysis of the annual report of Seek Limited that it is developed as per the standard accounting practices and policies as per the AASB requirements. The annual report has presented a brief overview of the Groups current performance and its strategic intent to the shareholders in its initial section under the Chairmans and CEO report. The detailed explanation of the accounting policies is provided by explaining the accounting transaction under each heading of notes to financial statement so that it is easily understood by the end-users. The notes to financial statement section have sufficiently explained the current performance of the Group. The Group has successfully adopted Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for conducting the accounting transactions and to provide reliable and accurate financial information to the end users. The annual report also discloses complete information about the operating segments of the Group in the notes to the financial statem ents section (Seek Limited Annual Report, 2017). Potential Red Flags and Accounting Distortions Seek Limited is having a positive financial growth and also develops its financial statements as per the standard accounting policies and thus it can be said that there is no such issues present before the Group at present. The quality of accounting information is also ensured by the report of external auditors thus guaranteeing that there are no major accounting distortions (Stickney, Weil and Francis, 2009). Conclusion It is analyzed from the overall discussion that future growth of SEEK Limited has been negatively impacted through the economic downturn at the macroeconomic level. Also, at industry-wise, the Group has acquired a dominant position however there is risk of new entrants in the market that can impact its business performance in the long-term. The use of cost leadership strategies has enabled it to achieve a competitive edge and is responsible for its good business growth. At last, the accounting analysis depicted that it complies with all the standard accounting policies and there is no concern regarding the potential red flags and accounting distortions in its annual report. The Group has adopted the accounting policies as per the AASB standards and there is also use of relative accounting judgments and assumptions during the preparation of the financial statements. The Group is complying with the industry norms in developing its financial statements and this has been evaluated from t he comparison of its accounting strategy with the competitor. The accounting policies and estimated adopted during the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are explained in detail in the notes to the financial statements section of the report. The segment information provides information about the various operations of the Group and the accounting policies adopted for assessing their financial performance. The presence of a clear and transparent remuneration structure by the management ensures that there is no manipulation of business accounts for personal gains by the business managers. References Deegan, C., 2013.Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Dickie, R. 2006. Financial Statement Analysis and Business Valuation for the Practical Lawyer. American Bar Association. Fridson, M. and Alvarez, F. 2011. Financial Statement Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide. John Wiley Sons. Healy, P. and Palepu, K. 2012. Business Analysis Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Cengage Learning. Macve, R. 2015. A Conceptual Framework for Financial Accounting and Reporting: Vision, Tool, or Threat?. Routledge. Monster Annual Report. 2015. [Online]. Available at: https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/m/NASDAQ_MWW_2015.pdf [Accessed on: 7 April 2018]. Penman, S. 2011. Accounting for Value. Columbia University Press. Robinson, T., Henry, E., Pirie, W. and Broihahn, M. 2015. International Financial Statement Analysis. John Wiley Sons. Schmidlin, N. 2014. The Art of Company Valuation and Financial Statement Analysis. John Wiley Sons. Seek Limited Annual Report. 2017. [Online]. Available at: https://member.afraccess.com/media?id=CMN://3A481116filename=20171030/SEK_01914393.pdf [Accessed on: 7 April 2018]. Stickney, C., Weil, R. and Francis, J. 2009. Financial Accounting: An Introduction to Concepts, Methods and Uses. Cengage Learning. Wahlen, J. Baginski, S. and Bradshaw, M. 2017. Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation. Cengage Learning.

Australian Consumer law And Business Law - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Australian Consumer law And Business Law. Answer: Issue The key issue of this case relates to the possible breach of the provisions covered under the Australian Consumer Law by Avanat Developments, regarding the lease of kisosk to Amaroo located at the local Wulangi Shopping Centre. Law The Competition and Consumer Act, 2010 (Cth) is the act protecting the interests of consumers in Australia and also ensures that a healthy competition prevails. Under Schedule 2 of this act, is the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), which particularly works towards the interests of the consumers, and gives them different rights which protect their interests. Under section 20 to 22 of ACL are covered the provisions regarding unconscionable conduct. As per section 20 of this act, an individual should refrain from indulging in such a conduct, in trade or commerce, which is unconscionable. This is within the meaning of unwritten law of the States and Territories from time to time. This unwritten law here denotes the common law and equity. Unconscionable conduct is something where the contracting parties are not at equal position. In other words, one of the parties could have a higher bargaining power which allows them to exploit a special disadvantage of other person in a knowing manner. Under the common law, there are certain pre-requisites for unconscionable conduct. These are: The weaker party holds the position of special disability, which includes sickness, emotional dependence, and lack of education, illiteracy, drunkenness, poverty, sex and age. The stronger part had clear knowledge about the special disability of the weaker party, or should have known about it. Lastly, an unfair advantage was taken by the stronger party of the special disability of the weaker party. When such a thing happens, the court could set aside the contract or could also rewrite the contract in order to make certain that there is fairness to the parties. Just the present of special disadvantage would not be deemed as unconscionable but the same has to cause a disadvantage to the weaker party owing to the advantage taken by the stronger party. This can be further enlightened through the case laws. Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio is an example of this. In this case, there were two elderly parents of Italian origin and had limited knowledge of English. They were persuaded by their son and the bank for guaranteeing and mortgaging the home to bank as a security for bank loan. The parents though there liability was limited; but the true position was that it was unlimited and the bank and the son failed to disclose this. When the matter reached the court, the court held that there was presence of unconscionable conduct. Had the parents been aware of the real occurrence, they would not have signed the contract. Here the special disadvantage of the parents was limited competence in English, which was taken advantage of, in an unfair manner, by the bank. Section 21 puts a restriction on businesses from engaging in conduct which is unconscionable regarding commercial supply of services or goods, in both business transactions and in domestic or commercial transactions. The terms of contract and the contract being carried on are the terms which are taken into account by the court for holding whether the conduct is unconscionable. The factors which determine the unconscionable conduct are covered under section 22, which includes the bargaining strength of supplier and consumer, consumer required to follow unnecessary condition, consumer being able to read the documents regarding the services or goods being supplied, presence of unfair tactics to pressure the consumer, amongst the other things. In ACCC v Lux Pty Ltd, the consumer was intellectually disabled and was also illiterate. This disability was known to the vacuum cleaner salesman and he filed the credit application form, along with the purchase contract and did not recommend the consumer regarding getting independent advice before this legal document was signed. The salesman dominated the consumer and this led to the ACCC brining a case of unconscionable conduct against him. His was upheld by the court owing to the relative bargaining strength of the party. This was due to the no real opportunity being present with weaker party for bargaining, the contract being one sided and the sale technique being disadvantageous for consumer. Application In the given case study, in order to hold Avanat Developments liable, there is a need to show that unconscionable conduct was undertaken by them against Amaroo. Based on section 20 of ACL, there is a need to apply the three conditions for establishing unconscionable conduct as these are the pre-requisites. Here, Amaroo was at a special disadvantage as he spoke aboriginal language and could only understand a limited amount of English. Also, he was not an expert in financial or business matters. This lack of education and lack of knowledge regarding English was Amaroos special disability. Steve was the representative of Avanat Developments and he had clear knowledge of the fact that Amaroo did not understand English properly and that he also did not understand such typical business or financial terms. Yet, Steve took advantage of this weak position of Amaroo by putting complex terms in the lease which Amaroo did not understand. This satisfies the conditions put in section 21 which woul d enable Amaroo to make application to t he court for getting the contract, i.e., the lease set aside, or for the same to be rewritten. This can be supported through the case of Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio, as in both the cases, the weaker party had the disability of limited knowledge of English. Here also Amaroo was persuaded by Steve to go forward with the lease and the true position was not told to him. Steven failed to inform Amaroo that he was the only one who was being charged at a rate which was 30% higher than all the other occupants in the Food Court. Steven also failed in informing Amaroo about the scheduled refurbishment after two months of lease, where the food court would be closed, when all the other tenants had been advised about the same. In case Amaroo known about all these, he would not have entered into the lease. The special disadvantage of Amaroo was thus taken advantage of by Steven in an unfair manner. As Steve represented a business, he was bounded by section 21 to not indulge in unconscionable conduct in the lease transaction. Based on section 22, Steve held a higher bargaining strength owing to special disability of Amaroo; Amaroo could read the documents but could not understand the same due to his lack of financial and business knowledge, and he was asked to follow an unnecessary condition of 30% higher rent. So based on these two sections, the conduct of Steve was unconscionable. Again, applying the discussed case law of ACCC v Lux Pty Ltd, the disability was known to Steve and yet he included complex business terms in the lease. He failed to advice Amaroo to take legal help regarding the lease, to get a better hold on the terms of the lease. Essentially, Amaroo had no real opportunity for bargaining, the conduct of Steve was one sided and the approach adopted by him was disadvantageous for Amaroo. Conclusion Thus, based on the application of the Laws to the facts given in the case study, Avanat Developments breached the provisions of Australian Consumer Law, regarding the lease of kisosk to Amaroo owing to the undertaken unconscionable conduct. Issue The key issue of this case revolves around the liability of Darwin Rail for the injuries sustained by Amaroo and the loss of $30,000 to him based on Civil Liability Act and the established cases. There are five different issues in this case: Presence of duty of care? Breach of duty of care? Harm suffered or damages? Available defences? Damages/ remedies? Law The Civil Liability Act, 2003 (QLD) (Act) brought certain changes to the laws regarding negligence, in different contexts including care, contributory negligence, assessment of damages, causation and voluntary assumption of risk. Despite the applicability of the statute, the principles of negligence covered in common law, prevail. Negligence is basically the breach of duty of care owed by X to Y due to the activities undertaken by X having the capacity of harming Y. The elements of negligence include duty of care, breach of duty of care, causation, and remoteness of damage. Presence of duty of care Donoghue v Stevenson helps in establishing duty of care as neighbour principle was brought with this case. The court stated in this case that there was a need to take reasonable care for avoiding the omissions or acts which could reasonably foresee which could injure the neighbour. For duty of care, there has to be reasonable foreseeability of the risk of harm, along with there being a relationship of vulnerability and control. In this regard, the defendant and plaintiff need to be in such proximity where the actions of one could have an impact over the other as per Jaensch v Coffey. Also, based on Swain v Waverley Municipal Council, the duty of care where the defendant is in such a position where they have to protect the interests of the plaintiff. The duty of care is not present, when there is an obvious risk of harm covered under section 13(1) of the Act as per Borland v Makauskas. Section 15 provides that there is no duty of warning about the obvious risks. A risk becomes obvious when it is a common knowledge based on section 13(2). Further, section 13(3) dictates that it would be obvious even when the chances of the same happening are low. Breach of duty of care Once duty of care is established, the breach of the same has to be shown. Section 9(1) provides that there has to be foreseeability of risk of harm, the risk of harm has to be significant and a reasonable individual would take precautions against the risk of harm. Once these three conditions are fulfilled, breach of duty of care can be established. An example of this is Paris v Stepney Borough Council, where section 9(2) was fulfilled regarding possibility of harm. For professionals, no breach happens when the standards are followed based on section 22 and Dobler v Halverson. Harm suffered or damages The third requirement is to show that the plaintiff was injured due to breach of duty by the defendant. Section 11(1) puts the requirement of factual causation. Relying upon Barnett v Chelsea and Kensington Hospital Management Committee, but for test is covered under section 11(3). Section 11(4) puts the requirement of remoteness of losses based on Wagon Mound Case No 1. These three factors combine to make a claim of negligence. Available defences When a claim of negligence is made by the plaintiff, the defendant can make use of the available defences. The first one is contributory negligence covered under section 23, where it is shown that the plaintiff failed in taking reasonable care towards preventing the harm caused to them. The other defence is voluntary assumption of risk, where the plaintiff takes the risk even when they are aware of the risk of harm. Damages/ remedies In cases of contributory negligence, the damages are assessed by the court by calculating the total damages which are payable to the plaintiff where there had been no contributory negligence and the liability is apportioned between the plaintiff and defendant in percentage terms. In cases of voluntary assumption of risk, no damages are awarded to the plaintiff. Application Presence of duty of care In this case, based on the case of Donoghue v Stevenson, there was a reasonable foreseeability of risk of harm as the application of paint on the edges of stairs made the stairs prone to slippage upon being wet. Based on Swain v Waverley Municipal Council, Darwin Rail was required to protect all of the people who crossed the platform and the stairs. There was a relationship based on Jaensch v Coffey between Darwin Rail Amaroo as he crossed the train station on which the renovation work had been undertaken by Darwin Rail. So, where the work done by Darwin Rail was not done in a careful manner and the requisite warning signs were not put at the staircase, there was a clear possibility of Amaroo or any other person passing the stairs, slipping. Here, a contention can be made that there was an obvious risk of harm for the stairs being slippery owing to rainy day and the stairs being wet, which would satisfy the conditions put in section 13(2) and 13(3), which would mean that Darwin Rail had no duty to Amaroo to warn him about the risk of harm. However, here the stairs had been painted, which was not a common knowledge, making this risk of harm, not obvious. Thus, a duty of care was present. Breach of duty of care Here, Darwin Rail was professional but they did not put up the sign as per standards (assumption) thus breaching section 22. There was a foreseeable risk of harm as established earlier, which had possibility of majorly injuring the parties, and failed in taking the requisite precautions in terms of putting up the danger sign or a sign warning about risk of harm. A reasonable person would have done so and as this was not done, based on Paris v Stepney Borough Council, a breach of duty of care would be established. Harm suffered or damages Based on section 11, here Darwin Rail breached their duty by not putting the warning sign, which resulted in Amaroo falling down the stairs and getting injured. However, due to this action of Darwin Rail, he did not get the gambling loss, so there was no factual causation in this case for the loss of $30,000 in gambling. As per the but for test, Amaroo would not have been injured, had the warning sign been placed by Darwin Rail. However, the same cannot be stated for the gambling part, as Amaroo could have gotten addicted from a number of reasons. The physical injuries were thus not remote, but the monetary loss due to gambling was remote. Available defences It is very clear that Amaroo was busy on phone and was carrying heavy stuff, while coming down the stairs. He failed to take care of his own self, by holding the sidebar of stairs to prevent him from falling. This contribution would result in defence of contributory negligence being available to Darwin Rail based on section 23. However, Amaroo was not aware of risk of harm caused by Darwin Rail and did not consent to it in any way, thus declining the possibility of applying voluntary assumption of risk. Damages/ remedies Here, based on the negligence of Darwin Rail, Amaroo can claim damages for his injuries and the unexpected medical expenses, in addition to the depression and anxiety caused to him. However, he would not be able to claim damages for the lost $30,000 for gambling. Also, the damages awarded to him would be proportionately reduced based on his contributory negligence. Conclusion Thus, Darwin Rail is liable for the injuries sustained by Amaroo, but not for the loss of $30,000 caused to Amaroo based on Civil Liability Act and the established cases.