Kirby Seminar Series 2019
Monday, 2 December at 12pm
Lecture Theatre 3, EBL Building
Professor Eileen Webb
Professor Eileen Webb joined the UniSA School of Law in 2019. She was previously Professor of Law at Curtin Law School, Perth, Western Australia, where she continues as an Adjunct Professor. Eileen teaches and researches in real property law, particularly housing and tenancy law, competition and consumer law (including small business law) and elder law. Eileen was formerly an Associate Dean of UWA Law School and a member of the Western Australian Law Reform Commission.
Eileen is passionate about housing issues affecting vulnerable members of our society. Her recent research has focused on security of tenure for older people, particularly how the operation of existing laws may make Seniors susceptible to financial exploitation. She has also examined how revised property and planning laws could facilitate more downsizing options for
Seniors, canvassed the need for law reforms addressing contentious issue of assets for care arrangements and considered whether human rights principles in property law could help to alleviate the plight of older homeless women.
Eileen has been a member of two national AHURI projects examining the scope for social impact investment to alleviate housing vulnerability, a BCEC project on security of tenure for older renters, a Queensland Government project reviewing the prevalence and characteristics of elder abuse in Queensland and, most recently, a National Survey on the Impact of Tenancy Laws on Women and Children Escaping Violence.
She is a member of the Expert Reference Group for the international cross-organisational research initiative, The Implications of the Tenure Revolution for New Zealand and its Ageing Society.
Eileen is a foundation member of the Australian Research Network on Law and Ageing (ARNLA) and a member of the Australian Association of Gerontology, including the Housing and Built Environment and Elder Abuse special interest groups. She is also a member of the ACCC’s Small Business and Franchising Consultative Committee.
presents
Accommodation agreements between older people and their families:
A legal and emotional minefield
With housing affordability declining and an ageing population, family arrangements involving shared property and/or pooled resources are commonplace and will become more so. Problems arise when such arrangements break down. Often, there is a lack of legal recourse for the older person, leaving him or her without funds, accommodation and care.
It is assumed that the law can accommodate recognition, and protection, of such arrangements. However, the issue is not straightforward. As these are familial arrangements, in most cases the parties have not entered into a contract, nor have any certainty regarding the parties’ rights and obligations under the agreement. In the absence of a contract, and again in most cases, no interest in the land, the older person must seek assistance through various equitable doctrines that provide little practical assistance.
This Kirby Research seminar discusses the distinctive characteristics of these transactions, and the legal pitfalls for older people. In so doing, recent cases analysing the nature of the agreements and remedies will be discussed. The presentation will conclude with some suggestions as to how the law can best respond to these arrangements either by adapting existing principles, or through legislative amendments.
Lunch will be held in the Law Library after the seminar. For catering purposes, please rsvp to akirk@une.edu.au by 2pm, Thursday 28th November.
