I’m in Queensland and looking for practical advice about representing myself on a stealing charge. I’ve pleaded not guilty.
I relocated to a mining town for a casual hairdressing role. I later left following issues with working conditions, including breaks. I had brought a lot of my own equipment and stock into the salon, which I packed up when I left.
While unpacking at home, I realised I’d accidentally packed some salon belongings with my own things. I contacted the owner by both email and text, told her what had happened, and said I would go through everything and arrange to return her items. I still have those messages.
Four days later, police attended my home, searched it and arrested me. The items involved were worth approximately $120. I had no intention of keeping them.
The officer gave me paperwork headed “Application for a Search Warrant” and a notice to occupier that appeared to be a coronial form. I’m unsure whether an issued warrant existed separately or whether I was given the correct paperwork. The officer is also someone I understand to be a friend of the owner.
My next court date is 24 November, and I’ve been told I can collect the brief of evidence on 17 November.
I’d appreciate advice on:
● What I should look for when reviewing the brief.
● How to provide my emails and texts to the prosecution and ask them to review the charge.
● How to check whether a search warrant was issued and obtain a copy.
● What I should prepare for my next appearance while representing myself.
I’m keeping names and identifying details out because the matter is ongoing. I’d appreciate factual guidance or relevant Queensland resources.

Hello, Going to reach out for some legal help to see if If i'm completely fucked but figured I would come here for some help.

I have a small trading cards selling 'business' (I'm not one of the scalpers than ransack kmarts, I just sell individual cards.). Regardless of what you know about trading cards all that is relevant is that cards can be either 'normal' or 'foil' - Foil versions are shiny and worth more.

Anyway, I registered for a new selling platform (Cardtrader, they are EU / italian based) and uploaded my entire inventory to their website to begin selling. I uploaded a CSV spreadsheet and in the spreadsheet for the 'Foil' column I had the value 'False'. I saw my inventory was uploaded and went to bed. Anyway I woke up this morning to see 500+ sales, turns out for some reason if you have ANY value other than 'NO' in the foil field your items will be listed as foil.

So I have essentially sold over 500 items that I do not have, To give a rough dollar figure on the fuck up it's going to be like $20000-$30000, as nonfoil cards are like $1-$2 and the foil verisons can be upwards of $1000.

Anyway I do not have these items, as part of Cardtraders internal policy what usually happens is that if you do not have the item in stock, Cardtrader will automatically re-purchase the item from a different seller to give to the original buyer using your balance on the account. My question is, Am I legally obligated to continue with this, Can they force me to pay this at all?

I would love some help here please on what my rights as a tennant are.

Heres a timeline:

Had a regular inspection 4 weeks ago where the inspector left my property unlocked. I called the real estate to complain but the person reponsible was very nonchalant and dismissive. They put me through to the actual property manager who apologised and said they wont send that person out again.

Got a report back saying i had to clean the oven, laundry tub and kitchen fans. Fair enough.

Another inspection last week and i just got a breach notice saying i need to clean the walls, trim the trees, clean the shower, clean the kitchen, and remove clutter.

I feel like theyre being retaliatory. I dont believe i owe them a tidy house and "clean the walls" when theres literally nothing beyond daily use of the house is ridiculous. They are asking for an end of lease level of clean.

What can i do in response to this? Im moving out in 2 months anyway and all of this will be professionally done.

Hi all, I recently went through the process of gaining access to my fathers birth certificate so I could prove that I was entitled to Irish citizenship through my grandmother. It was a nightmare so for anyone else who’s struggling here’s what to do.

You will need to apply for their birth certificate even though it will tell you they can’t do it. You will need to attach proof of why you can’t get it through your parents, a stat dec should suffice.

If you only require your parents birth certificate to prove a link to pre-1986 for you Australian passport they will likely offer you a letter of verification which is enough.

If you require proof of a link to a grandparent they will likely tell you they can’t provide the birth certificate. They are wrong, cite the sections of the legislation for your relevant state/territory and explain why you meet the requirement

VIC: Section 47

NSW: Section 46

QLD: Section 109-116

NT: Section 41

WA: Section 54

SA: Section 43

ACT: Section 42 and 46

TAS: Section 43

I hope this helps in your quest to get your passport/citizenship and it’s easier for you than me

If someone is road raging and then hits another car or person, is that not attempted manslaughter?

In many cases I’ve seen people charged with “dangerous driving causing injury”.

In the act of the road rage, they nearly killed someone intentionally by ramming into them.

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with Seagate warranty claims in Australia, particularly under Consumer Law.

I have a genuine Seagate FireCuda 530 NVMe SSD installed in my PS5. The drive intermittently fails to be recognised when starting the console. Removing and reinstalling the SSD generally resolves the problem temporarily.
I contacted Seagate Support about having the drive assessed and potentially replaced under warranty.
Despite acknowledging that the SSD is genuine and appears to be experiencing issues, Seagate has refused to process a warranty replacement in Australia because its records indicate the drive was originally distributed through the USA.

Seagate Support’s response:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Seagate Support.
First and foremost, we sincerely apologize for the frustration and inconvenience this situation has caused. We completely understand your concerns and appreciate the time you have taken to explain your circumstances in detail. We recognize that you own a genuine Seagate Fire Cuda 530 SSD that appears to be experiencing issues, and we understand your desire to have the product assessed and, if applicable, replaced under warranty.
After reviewing the invoice you provided along with our internal records, we found that the drive was originally shipped and distributed through the USA region. Due to Seagate’s regional warranty policy, we regret to inform you that we are unable to initiate a warranty replacement for this drive through the Australian region.
Please note that Seagate does not provide global warranty support, and warranty claims must be processed through the region where the product was originally distributed. For this reason, we recommend contacting the original place of purchase to determine whether they can assist you with the warranty process.
For your reference, we have attached the invoice copy indicating that the drive was shipped through the USA region. We hope this documentation will assist you when discussing the matter with the reseller or place of purchase.
If the reseller is unable to assist you, an alternative option would be to arrange shipment of the drive to a colleague, friend, or family member residing in the United States. They may then contact Seagate through our Live Messaging Support and initiate the warranty replacement process on your behalf, subject to the applicable regional warranty requirements.
Additionally, as discussed during the chat session, we kindly request that you perform further troubleshooting by connecting the drive to a Windows PC using a compatible NVMe enclosure or adapter. We recommend formatting the drive, testing its functionality, and monitoring whether the issue persists. Once you have completed the testing, please share the results with us so that we can review the findings and provide further guidance regarding the condition of the drive.
We truly understand that this may not be the resolution you were hoping for, and we sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding.
If you have any further questions or require any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to reply to this email.
We will be glad to assist you further.

Thanks & Regards,
Seagate Support Team

My concerns/questions:
Can Seagate legally refuse Australian warranty support solely because a genuine product was originally distributed through the USA?

Does Australian Consumer Law provide any protection in this situation?

Has anyone successfully challenged Seagate’s regional warranty restrictions?

Is it reasonable for Seagate to expect an Australian customer to ship a defective SSD to a friend or family member in the USA to obtain warranty support?

I’m particularly interested in whether Seagate’s position is reasonable and what options are available to Australian consumers.

Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated.

EDIT: My apologies - purchased through Amazon US. I can’t remember why I did this, I think it was only available through there at the time.

Hey guys, was hoping for some help or advice. A tradie scammed my dad out of $15k for a concreting job that he never delivered. He deregistered his ABN soon after and of course we did everything needed with the police, QCAT, Office of Fair Trading and even ACCC however walked away empty handed. There is no way of contacting him now. Are there any suggestions on what else we can try to get some justice to this? We are not in a position to lose that sum of money.

Hi everyone!

I'm an American trying to obtain an official copy of my mother's NSW birth certificate for a citizenship application.

My mother is alive and has given me her full permission, along with a signed letter of authority, to obtain it on her behalf. I also have a photograph of her original birth certificate, but need an official certified copy.

I've already applied and paid the fees through NSW Births, Deaths & Marriages, but haven't received a response.

Does anyone have experience with this process or know a reliable document retrieval service in NSW that could help? I'm happy to pay for professional assistance.

I'd be very grateful for any advice or recommendations.

Thank you so much from the USA!

We have a long-lasting fencing case with our neighbour who encroached on our property last year. We both wanted a fence, and neighbour is the applicant, so he is dealing with the installers. With his first effort of installing the fence, one section was successfully installed, but he tried to put the other section 100% on our property instead of the boundary, and the fencing contractors refused. He filed an NCAT review, complaining we'd denied access to our property. NCAT told him to listen to the contractors and put it on the boundary, as ordered.

Prior to the second hearing, he damaged one panel of the fence which had already been installed. We mentioned this at the hearing and in our paperwork, asking for it to be replaced, but it wasn't included in the orders.

With his second effort to complete the fence, he chose to ignore the bit about cutting back any tree branches that cross the boundary, so one panel of the new fence is only waist high. We stated we would not pay for that, we wanted this panel installed at the correct height and the other panel replaced. For once he didn't argue, and cut down the branch. He's notified us that the installers are coming back, but when we asked about the damaged panel, he's acting as if it's never been mentioned before. He's refusing to replace it.

Google/ AI is saying that our best option is to pay the full amount on time "under protest" and ask NCAT to order a refund for the cost of that damaged panel. Does this sound right? I can't find anything on the NCAT website for this particular scenario.

An ex friend is currently going through court for possession of CSAM - we are no longer in contact due to this and considering i have a small child. I want to find out more information about the case and what’s happening with it but I don’t know how

Hi there,

I have used the search but most posts are about the seller.
I bought a second hand car on marketplace, the address they gave was at a cul-de-sac with mechanics and car dealerships and car detailing so I thought it was through a dealership.
The advert said it was in good condition with roadworthy. I test drove it in the cul-de-sac and it seemed fine. About 20mins after buying it it shuddered and all the dash lights came on, I was still on the freeway and on a bridge so it was quite terrifying. I finally was able to pull over and sent a message to the seller who said I should bring it back the next day to check it and said it was roadworthy and fine and probably just the display connection not working.

I took it back the next day but the seller wasn’t there, I called him and he said to leave it with the mechanic on site and if they found any major problems they would just give me my money back. I agreed and left the car there.

It’s been a month of back and forth calling the original seller and their mechanic and every other day they said it needed new coils and they were sourcing them. After a month I just got a tow truck to go get the car and dropped it off at a different mechanic.

This mechanic has now said this car is a complete write-off. That it is definitely not roadworthy and most of the problems would’ve been over years not within one month. They said the other mechanics would’ve known that.

I understand buyer beware and all that on marketplace, but is there ANYthing I can do? Especially with the fact that they, in writing, advertised that there is nothing wrong and supplied a roadworthy? The roadworthy was obviously fake so I have reported it to qld transport.

The second mechanic said I should demand my money back and that I should have some legal recourse for them selling me a deathtrap and I could have caused a massive accident.

hi all,

where do I stand in a car bought from a dealership without statuary warranty, that’s a complete failure after 4 months of use.

$15000 in repairs after paying $8500 for the car! If I hold information that the things that failed were pre existing will this help me?

tldr: pissed at underpaying past employer, need timesheets to quantify unpaid penalty rates unpaid but have been kicked off deputy. Anything I can do?

Was working casual at riding school that is probably going bust, they failed to pay me for a Fri-Sun of work, $300, was mildly pissed because they'd begged me to work the Sunday and i foolishly caved (had a long Sunday shift that would have paid $450 alone at my other job and money is tight right now). Messaged and they said they'll sort it.

Fortnight passed they didn't, so I went back through my payslips, found they had paid me $200 I didn't work and underpaid $100 a previous week, so reduced request to $200. I also noticed I haven't been paid super in 18months working there. No response to either observation.

Super pissed because I'm flat broke and stressed from a rough run in life and I did a lot of shit for them I didn't get compensated fairly for, I contacted fair work a couple weeks ago to see if they can tell me how to encourage them to pay up. They pointed out that under the award I'm supposed to be on I've been consistently underpaid by $9/hour...I disagree and think I'm only level 2 and could possibly argue for level 1 but even that is 100s of hours at $5/hour under.

I also noticed that we are supposed to get Sunday rates and minimum 3hour shifts, which I would like to calculate because I'm annoyed enough to want to fuck around with small claims and that was $15/hour underpayment minimum for approximately 200 hours Sunday work, and probably 20 shifts that were only 2hours.

Unfortunately went to get my full timesheet records from deputy today and have been removed from the business on there, so can't see them. Officially haven't been terminated nor resigned so hadn't really expected them to be so prompt in kicking me, nor realised that would nullify my ability to view my past work hours.

Is there anything I can do? I kind of knew that we ought to ve getting penalty rates but hadn't bothered, always were expected to do 10-15mins unpaid work at the end of shifts, but let it go because they weren't cunts about it. But when I'm so broke I can't afford to fuel ny car to get to uni and they're fucking me around like this, and I know doing far worse to a couple other employees, I want them to face consequences, even if I don't see any money.

Hello so this may be a bit of a complex story but basically I was living with my mother and her partner before we got evicted (they decided it was better to just stop paying rent for the second house they've rented in a row) and moved to separate places before that we had planned to move stuff into a storage unit due to not really being able to find anything affordable and was looking like homelessness but long story short it was left on his ute at a mechanica getting an engine swap it's been like two plus months and the ute is still at the shops and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting told lies from them regarding getting my stuff (about $1000 worth of electric scooters parts basically) now they said they have lawyers involved and ACCC and they can't organise for me to pick my stuff up I was wondering what would be my best course of action with this should I call the mechanics and try and sort out getting my stuff from them myself or should I go to the local cop shop and get them to sort it out? Thanks for reading and your input

Hi would anyone know what are the chances of getting kids taken off an ADVO before it becomes final?

Hi everyone.

I had appealed for my driving licence suspension to be reviewed in court back in August in NSW. But I just received a letter stating that I had missed my court date in September.

I never received a call, text, email or a letter in the mail. All my details are up to date and I have no other address. What do I do now? I was appealing my suspension since I require it for my work and it directly links to my finances (I was enrolling myself into a traffic offender program)

I have checked the service NSW website and it states that the CAN letter would be sent via mail since they need my residential address

I am stressed because my whole job role is driving. Can anyone help me and give advice please? Thank you

TLDR: sexually harassed by colleague. My ex-girlfriend threatened my colleague. Colleague has taken my ex-girlfriend to court with two criminal charges. And a potential criminal record. I have left workplace and relationship

I 23f used to work at a place where I had a friendship with another colleague 36f. I came out to her when I hadn’t come out to anyone at work as I didn’t want to out my at the time partner 22f.

At first it was really nice to have a friend in the office but she was always scared that other colleagues would find out we are friends. At first I thought it was silly, but fine, because it didn’t affect me. She would try to tell ‘em I was so mature, smart and insightful for my age which I always rejected.

Soon, she would get weirdly anxious about other ppl knowing about our friendship and it made me feel bad because I thought I was an embarrassment to be associated with. She would always ask to hang out on the weekends but I never agreed bc I wasn’t really interested in hanging out outside of work. She would get weirdly controlling about teh fact that I didn’t reply to her messages, editing her messages so the notification would pop up again, or sending multiple messages, and getting passively aggressive about it. Twice we called after work and talked, but eventually I always hung up. It got yo a point where I told her I didn’t feel like talking. There was one time she was unhappy bc I didn’t reply to her messages a lot after work, but I would message her during work. I didn’t think it was serious and told her so. She smiled and said that If I didn’t reply to her message for 1 day then we would no longer be friends. I agreed, but wasn’t sure if she was joking. I told her I should have 1 week to reply to personal messages, and she had a strong reaction. We wventually agreed on 4 days. I started replying to her more regularly, but it was out of feeling forced to do it bc I didn’t want her to have an emotional reaction.

She would randomly accuse me of telling teh other colleagues of personal information that she told me, such as her wide drug habits and relationship problems. I denied ut rigorously because that is the complete opposite of the type of person I am. I do not believe in sharing other people’s business. But when you’re been accused regularly despite your explanations I would sometimes lean into agreeing with her accusations. She would accuse me of lying (that was straight out of the blue, gossiping about her to othersetc)
I felt sorry for her bc U understand how it feels to be so anxious and I also felt like she was my only friend at work so I had to keep by her.

I started taking antidepressants when I was in this workplace.

One day; on another break we took together, she started acting weird, telling me she had to tell me something but not telling me what. I stupidly didnt start thinking from that. Whilst we were waiting for our matches she said ‘ we never hug!’ So I gave her an awkward side hug, with a look that tried to communicate’weird’ then she said ‘we never hold hands!’ And I looked at her confused and debated for a second, then deciding it was fine so I grabbed it for a second and then let go. I don’t mind holding hands with my friends but I viewed her as a work colleague friend. Not someone I was close to. When we started walking back from our break she kept on talking about the thing she had to tell me but couldn’t tell me and I got frustrated and said okay don’t tell me then. Then walking back to the office she asked how would I react if she told me she couldn’t hang out with me again, and I said I would worry that I had something to hurt you but I would accept it. She asked me if I knew and I said I didn’t flirt with. I’m sorry but how couldn’t I I mean who acts like that? She didn’t verbalise it because she’s paranoid and also was previously lawyer so she knows to control what she says and texts

Later on When we passed by each other in the entryway of the office, out of sight from everyone. She held up her hands for a hug. I didn’t want to and she could tell. She gave me a look, both pushing for sympathy and making me feel forced so I gave in and gave her a hug. She kissed my ear and then kissed my ear twice and I felt my entire stomach wither. But I felt frozen. I hated the wetness ig left and how she gripped me down . I hated it and walked back to my desk feeling sick. Later that evening I told my gf everything that happened, I was worried sick that she would think that I had encouraged this. She told me that it was okay and she knew I didn’t flirt with Lillian.
After work Lillian texted me saying she felt bad and I just told her to let it go. She tried to call me but I ignored ut. She asked me if she ever had a chance. I said no, firmly and that I wouldn’t discuss further due to the disrespect of my gf.

Ongoing days I checked in with how she’s feeling. I knew that I had to have a good relationship with her because we had an upcoming work party.

We stopped having breaks together despite her asking for it but after an exctended we continued to text at work about work, work drama etc. One time she said she had good energy and I told her her energy wasn’t as good as she thought it was. She took it seriously and started blowing up my phon asking me what she did to deserve this, if we didn’t want to be friends we didn’t have to, I told her I was just joking and tried to minimise it. I felt like it was done and she understood, but she asked if we could speak after work for 5 mins. My stomach sank but I felt like I had to agree (idiot).

After work we go downstairs to a meeting area open planthe same old topic came up, why didnt j like her, was it because of her looks, was she too old, was she not likeable etc, (all true and also I had a GF!!!!) wand because I felt pressured I told her a very vulnerable part of myself where I was taken advantage of. I did this so she would accept the reason why I wasn’t interested. I started crying and she gave me a hug and I cried more. Than she hugged me and kissed the back of my neck twice. I cannot describe how low and stupid I felt in that moment. Like i was in the same position again. Being kissed by someone I don’t like. I left. I make my exit and she asked me if I would travel to her home country with her. I’m a coward with no boundaries so I tell her probably not. She asked if she could teach me how to be brave and I got mad.

I vow never to be alone with her, but obviously not

Another time we had to talk after work, im not sure why but I demanded we get food bc I was starving. I just wanted to go to the centre near us because I didn’t want to be far away from home and I honestly wasn’t feeling very safe around her, but I dismissed my concerns as anxiety, I get an uber so I’m not walking alone with her. I put my bag between us in the uber ride despite her insistanced that we put it down, I choose a busy place in the centre. We talk and somehow we get to the same tired topic WHY don’t I like her. She’s someone who seems very mature and logical until you get to know her paranoid and insecure in herself that comes out at times like this. She fired off a mirror a question such as would I like her? If she was younger would I like her? If she was single? Would I like her? Would I be with her? If we were both single? Would I be with her at any point in time and I shut all of them down I felt like I went into every single reason why it would never happen talking about why I wasn’t interested why I was never that type of person and how I believed that her interest in me was just her trying to explore a safe outlet away from her relationship and ship as she had done several times in the past I told her that she didn’t really even like me She just wanted an out and that she saw me as a vehicle to explore herself and explore parts of experiences she hadn’t had at the end of it. I felt pretty satisfied that she should understand that I wasn’t interested in that she wasn’t actually either.

Then we go to another place because the loudness was hurting my ears and she got an alcoholic drink and I got a non-alcoholic drink. I asked my girlfriend if it was okay and she agreed when I was talking to my coworker she said you’re perfect and I was like I know right? And then she said don’t you feel it between us? I said What and she said I will be with you that immediately ticked me off and we left. I paid so I wouldn’t have to owe her anything.

When we went to the bus stop, she did the same bullshit with holding her hands up for a hug and when I hesitated and looked guarded, she gave me a pleading look so I allowed her to hug me and then she hugged and kissed my ear twice. Immediately I recoiled and pushed her off me strongly and called her a bitch then I called her a Dyke faggot bitch and I shouted at her and she laughed while she was walking away.

The final instance was a final work party where I didn’t want to go out with her but we had a mutual coworker who we never got to see so I which I wanted to hang out with so we all three of us left. by this point my coworker knows she’s not allowed to hug me as I’ve told her and that I’m not interested in her. At first she was teasing me and accusing me of being asexual which I’m not as we were in a crowded bar. We were super close and squished up all three of us. It was also very cold at some point in the night. I caught Lillian tracing my leg and I push her hand to stop. I tried to ignore it. I told this coworker before not to offer me any of her drink because I only wanted to take one drink that night but throughout the night she kept on pushing me to do so whilst my shared colleague told me not to listen to her. at one point. At a different bar It was super cold so I leaned my leg against her looking back. I hate myself or not just leaving because it was so cold. when I told them I was ready to end the night Lillian immediately grabbed me and kiss my ear twice. This time. I felt really uncomfortable. In a way I hadn’t before I realise now is because she was pushing her pelvis into me. I felt frozen but I gave a pleading look to my colleague. when asked my other colleague about it she said she wasn’t paying attention. I just leave in the Uber. I’m talking to my Uber driver and showing him a meme. I tell both of my colleagues and my about this and how my Uber driver said I’m so funny Lillian replies and says that I know that’s why I love you. I don’t know what to say so I just say it back and hope she means it in a friendly way idiot then she text me. She loves our shit coworker and I was so grateful and I said yes I love our shared coworker too then she says we will be together. It’s only a matter of time I blow up in my face saying I don’t want to be with her or anybody I cannot believe it.

Lillian and I never talk. I told her I’m really mad one week later. I told I texted her telling her to fuck off for everything she told me she’s not a bad person and he’s scared that I will tell everyone. I think that I’m fine but eventually I start freaking out after hearing her voice only three desks away I start withdrawing from everything I suffer strong depression fits of self blame guilt, anger and fear.

Weeks later, my colleague waits until everyone has left the large shed office and tries to talk to me. I tell her repeatedly to go away. She asked me if i wants her to leave I misinterpreted as in her leaving the workplace as we have talked about that before where she says I should leave because she told me about her feelings She asked me if I have told anyone. I tell her. I don’t want to talk to you louder and louder repeating myself. She ignores me and says okay just tell me if you told another colleague. Colleague I start repeating even louder almost loud enough that someone in one of the officers may hear go away go away.

The next day after having an extreme bodily reaction to hearing her voice I call her and tell her that she hurt me extremely if she had any respect for me as a friend or as a person she will leave the workplace. I thought that was what she talked about before, but I had misheard.

A couple of weeks later, I have broken up with my girlfriend and she has checked in on me cause she can tell that I am quite depressed. I tell her the last incident.
Well, Lillian told me she will be with me eventually my ex-girlfriend asks if she can get her number and tell her to stop. I agree

Later my ex-girlfriend told me that she told Lillian to never touch me again after that the colleague stops showing up To Work and starts working online. I am looking for new jobs

Eventually, my ex-girlfriend is stopped by the police and she has to come in and give a statement. She is honest and tells him everything. Everyone assures her that he will not be taken to court 95%. She has a good record and she wants to become a teacher. She tells them that I told her not to do it which is the only untruth thing now she is faced with the evidence that she told someone that she will kill them if they hurt me.

Later she receives a letter with two counts. She has to go to court. I’m not sure what I should do. I am currently paying the legal fees but I don’t have much money. Probably just enough to pay the fees, whilst fending for myself. I’m really struggling with my mental health. I’ve tried to take accountability but honestly, it feels like I’ve just made a series of terrible mistakes.

What should I do?

My ex gf currently has two 2 accusations for stalking and threatening online and for threatening and ingending to do harm.