Parker Simmonds Solicitors & Lawyers Pty Ltd in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia | Lawyer & law firm

Parker Simmonds Solicitors & Lawyers Pty Ltd

Locality: Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia

Phone: +61 7 5592 5077

Address: Victoria Ave 4218 Broadbeach, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.parksim.com.au

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25.01.2022 CALL TO GIVE QLD CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER THE SAME POWERS AS A SUPREME COURT JUDGE Queensland’s Chief Health Officer should be given the same powers and jurisdiction as a Supreme Court judge, and the State should establish a border restriction complaint conciliation process. The call promoted by Gold Coast community issues lawyer Bruce Simmonds, follows reports that the beleaguered Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, is under police protection following death threats becaus...Continue reading

25.01.2022 It's reported that unfair dismissal claims increased 40% from the period of March - June 2020, with a total of 16,558 unfair dismissal claims made for the 2019-2020 financial year! If you need help either making or defending an unfair dismissal claim, our experienced team is here to help.

24.01.2022 From the archives... LAWYER WANTS MORE BITE IN QLD DOG LAWS Vicious dog attacks are an unfortunate regular occurrence in the news and in 2018 Parker Simmonds lawyer Bruce Simmonds said owners of dangerous dogs should be legally required to have public liability insurance cover for their animals.... He said the current laws generally allowed every dog to get one free bite but the law was poorly structured and needed to be toughened so a dog owner was held responsible in town settings for any and all actions by their dogs. Mr Simmonds who is Litigation Director of Parker Simmonds Solicitors and Lawyers, said it was time to renew a call he made previously for owners of dangerous dogs to be legally required to pay up, to ensure dog attack victims’ medical costs are covered. Why should owners of dangerous dogs be exempted from having to insure against their dog’s behaviour? Anyone whose activities could endanger the public is required to have public liability insurance cover. The cost of dog insurance would be a pointed reminder to dog owners of their responsibilities, Mr Simmonds said. He said he had acted for numerous dog bite victims in compensation claims and felt the public did not necessarily appreciate the ongoing trauma victims suffered from dog attacks. Dog attack victims too often are treated almost as just a statistic. Our dog laws are too lax. Dog owners in town settings should be responsible for all actions of their dog. If they can't look after it they shouldn't have one. A dog should not be able to leave its home property to attack passers-by. In the country if a dog bit a person or stock it would be shot, he said. Mr Simmonds has argued that Queensland should adopt the New South Wales system where owners are automatically liable for their dog’s behaviour and can be fined or even jailed if they ignore their responsibilities. In Queensland even though a dog is allowed to have a first bite before it can be classed as dangerous, you still have to show negligence in not containing the animal. There’s no real criminal liability here although certain dangerous breeds are banned, as they should be. But the dog laws system is still soft and needs strengthening, he said. We should have a system that says you must have compulsory third party insurance when registering your dog. If the dog bites someone, there’s an automatic liability on the dog owner, Mr Simmonds said. The system could also provide for a substantial fine and the dog’s destruction if the dog’s insurance or registration lapses. Responsible owners will follow the rules, it’s the irresponsible or careless ones we need to target, he said. If a person can’t insure their dog, they can’t have a dog, just as you can’t legally drive a car if there’s no CTP insurance, he said.

22.01.2022 While Victorian COVID-19 cases may have eased, South Australia now has a lot of work to do. This article from April 2020 has a lot of useful info for employers to consider for their workplaces: https://ecs.page.link/7g5rx

22.01.2022 It's been reported that unemployment has dropped, marginally, on the Gold Coast in September. The Australian Bureau of Statistics stated the unemployment rate dropped from 7.9% (revised) to 7.5% in September. However, the number of available jobs on the Gold Coast also decreased, by an estimated 600 roles, whilst the participation rate also dropped marginally.... Do you think these numbers will change with the new JobKeeper rules in place for October?

21.01.2022 "The sunrise, of course, doesn't care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it." Gene Amole Featuring a stunning sunrise captured at The Spit, Main Beach

20.01.2022 Looking back towards our Brisbane office. What a beautiful city we get to live and work in.

18.01.2022 SCHOOLIES IS STILL ON DESPITE CANCELLATION So Schoolies is cancelled? If so why is the official Schoolies website stating the school leavers’ festival will kick off in less than 25 days’ time? It's still promoting the event as starting on 21 November and it’s...Continue reading

16.01.2022 From the files Parker Simmonds has a long history of involvement in community issues awareness and as summer approaches, it’s timely to look back to 2016 and a call for a new approach to swimming pool safety.... Litigation Director Bruce Simmonds addressed a shocking drowning of a child in a home pool and said it prompted a renewed call for home owners to have a designated driver type system in place to watch children every minute they are in a pool. Bruce Simmonds said the tragedy was a reminder for the need to have a designated driver system to ensure someone stays around a pool every minute it is in use as a safety measure. Although the designated driver concept was well-established to prevent drinking and driving, there did not seem to be any similar safety plan to ensure safety around home pools, especially during barbecues and parties. Some foresight now could avoid a lot of heartache later. It’s too easy for people to all be having a good time and just assume someone will be keeping an eye on the kids in the pool. Bruce, a compensation law expert, said he had acted for families torn apart by child drownings and had seen at close quarters the way child drownings could tear a family apart. You can’t leave kids alone in a pool for even one minute, he said. He urged summer revellers, especially those supervising barbeques or children in home swimming pools, to not mix their responsibilities with alcohol. This time of the year usually meant parties and social gatherings at homes, and hosts should not lose sight of their responsibilities to provide a safe venue. It was too easy, especially where alcohol was involved, for people to forget responsibilities such as ensuring children in a pool were safe, or a barbecue was being safely operated. People forget that some of the inflatable pools purchased from shopping centres are of a size that requires pool fencing around them. Adults buying a pool need to realise they are also committing to responsibilities for children’s safety, he said. Fines won’t bring the children back, they just swell city and state coffers. Property owners need to have it drilled into their brains the crucial need for pool safety, not to leave pool gates open and never let children near a pool unsupervised, Mr Simmonds said. Hosts could lessen the danger risks by ensuring there was a designated alcohol-free safety host, in the same manner as the designated driver system for motorists. We’ve had campaigns against drink/ driving, Smoking and ice, but very little in the public’s face about swimming pool safety, he added. Now’s the time we see much heavier use of pools so it’s a good time to push the safety message. The State Government and the City Council should be doing a lot more to raise public awareness of pool safety issues, not just waving a stick around and threatening to impose fines, Mr Simmonds said.

16.01.2022 Did you know that employers have a responsibility to ensure a safe work environment, even for staff working from home? The urgency of workplace changes due to coronavirus precautions may mean employers have not physically inspected home work environments. Employers could consider using video technology such as Skype to look at home workplaces and evaluate possible risks where physical evaluations are not possible.

15.01.2022 We had a BRILLIANT day out at the @chinchillaraceclub over the weekend! Our Chinchilla office team get to enjoy this part of Queensland every day, but for the rest of us, it was great to enjoy the country hospitality and support the region.

14.01.2022 Happiness is...not having to set the alarm tomorrow (but doing it anyway to see the sunrise).

14.01.2022 LOOSE LOADS ON M1 PUSH INJURY COMPO CLAIMS Motorists whose poorly secured loads cause injury or damage on the M1 are driving injury compensation claims by Queenslanders. The issue’s been in the news since a Gold Coast motorcyclist was killed on the M1 after a ladder reportedly fell from a tradie’s vehicle earlier this month. Since then many motorists have come forward with their horror stories of dodging death due to insecure loads falling from vehicles on the congested Moto...Continue reading

14.01.2022 Merry Christmas! We're now closed between Christmas and New Year and we look forward to working with all our valued clients again in 2021!

12.01.2022 WORK FROM HOME INJURY CLAIMS BOOM LIKELY Businesses that have transitioned to a work from home system due to the Covid pandemic now face a new problem- an increase in stress and work-related injury claims. Gold Coast compensation law expert Bruce Simmonds says the signs are already there with WorkCover claims for people injured while working from home....Continue reading

10.01.2022 Be on alert for this very specific phone scam targeting Golder Coasters! https://ecs.page.link/guL9T

09.01.2022 What impact has COVID-19 had on your local business? We were recently published in LawyersWeekly discussing this challenging time. https://ecs.page.link/Konyq

06.01.2022 MERRY COVID CHRISTMAS- STAY WELL APART While 2020 can’t end soon enough for most of us, many will be hoping to salvage some sense of fun from the traditional end of year office Christmas party. But given Covid and the move by many businesses to have staff work from home, can there even be a work Christmas party and if so, what sort of risks might it pose?...Continue reading

05.01.2022 We shall remember them every day, including this Remembrance Day. #remembranceday2020

05.01.2022 What we see depends mainly on what we look for. John Lubbock A truly beautiful perspective of the Gold Coast for your Friday morning!

04.01.2022 Still got the Christmas lights up? Here's our latest 'from the files'... NO LEGAL COVER FOR DODGY CHRISTMAS LIGHTS It wouldn’t be Christmas without those twinkly lights festooned on the house for a great street display but in 2015 compensation law expert Bruce Simmonds had words of caution for those who buy cheap lights.... He said then Gold Coasters who buy cheap Christmas lights online may have little legal comeback if the dodgy lights burn the house down. Mr Simmonds said it could be an expensive nightmare chasing down an online seller of poor quality lights and pursuing them for compensation. My advice is simple don’t buy cheap lights online. Buy them from reputable stores where you have some comeback for faulty products, he said. Electrical safety officials are checking retail outlets for faulty stock and warning buyers to beware of cheaper online alternatives. They are especially warning of an influx of substandard plug-in Santa figurines and fairy lights which are made overseas and sold online. Mr Simmonds, Litigation Director of Parker Simmonds Solicitors & Lawyers, said that Queensland laws required decorative lights to meet Australian standards. There was a risk cheap, foreign-made decorations might not meet local standards or conform to Australian electrical regulations. If your house burns down, good luck getting some online seller overseas to compensate you, let alone the ramifications if someone is injured or worse, he said. Essentially you have no comeback for online purchases. EBay may refund the purchase price but that’s probably as far as it goes, Mr Simmonds said. He endorsed safety messages from RACQ Insurance and Queensland Fire Service. Mr Simmonds said anyone buying electrical Christmas decorations should buy from reputable local shops. Buying an el cheapo set of lights online could cost you your house. If you buy locally and there’s any problem with the lights, you know where the seller lives and can pursue legal remedies from them, he said.

04.01.2022 As we enjoy our Christmas break, we bring you another "From the files" BRIDGE JUMPERS WARNED ON RESPONSIBILITY The warmer summer weather always leads to young people tackling dangerous activities such as jumping from bridges.... Back in 2004 Gold Coast personal injury law expert Bruce Simmonds of Parker Simmonds called for adequate warning signs placed on local bridges to deter young thrill-seekers from jumping off them. Mr Simmonds said recent media publicity had highlighted the injury danger to young people who jump into rivers from local bridges. Bridge jumping was illegal and highly dangerous, he said. Thrill-seekers who jump off bridges have to acknowledge their own degree of responsibility. The authorities responsible for the bridge also must decide whether there is a foreseeable risk that someone would jump off a bridge, and if so, whether there are adequate warning signs on the bridge warning of the dangers of jumping into the river. Bruce Simmonds said if there were safety barriers and adequate warning signs on a bridge, a young jumper who ignored them should be prepared to take 100 percent responsibility for their actions. Before an injured person could make an injury compensation claim they would have to establish that the council or State Government had a duty of care to prevent such an injury. If there was a foreseeable risk that people would jump off a bridge, the authorities should install safety barriers and erect warning signs on the bridge, prohibiting dangerous activities or warning of the potential dangers. Mr Simmonds said councils or government could be liable for injury compensation claims if it was known young people jumped from bridges, yet no warning signs or barriers were erected. In other words, if everyone knows what’s going on and knows the dangers but turns a blind eye to it, then a young thrill-seeker might think it’s okay to jump from a bridge. Safety barriers and appropriate warning signs would give the authorities appropriate legal protection against claims, Mr Simmonds said. However, the bottom line was that young people had to also show responsibility. Bridge jumping was stupid and dangerous and those who ignored the warnings only had themselves to blame for the consequences.

04.01.2022 Making your Friday a little easier, with an appearance by Priscilla, Aron's gorgeous pup!

03.01.2022 From the files FUR FLIES AS GOVERNMENT TRIES TO HERD CATS Believe it or not, back in 2009 the Queensland State Government launched its most ambitious policy to date- herding cats....Continue reading

02.01.2022 From mountains of paper work to legal jargon and simmering family disputes, managing the legal aspects of a deceased estate is one of the last things you want to deal with when you’re grieving the loss of someone important in your life. Connecting with a trusted legal advisor can give you peace of mind and confidence in the process, when you need the support most.

02.01.2022 Parker Simmonds Solicitor’s family law solicitors can provide assistance for a range of matters relating to family law and children's issues, including: Child support enforcement of payments Parenting plans for child custody & visitation Parental rights, father’s rights and grandparent’s rights... Guardianship of children Adoption Children’s Court If you need support in any of these areas, please schedule a consultation with one of our experienced family lawyers.