The Law Handbook 2024

582 Section 6: Houses, communities and the road officers, meter readers, post office officials, health officers, council officers, licensed surveyors, and members of the fire brigade. Police officers Police officers are allowed on your land if they have a warrant, which they should show you when seeking entry to your land. If they do not have a warrant, they may only enter your land if you invite them, or if particular circumstances arise, such as making an arrest, stopping a breach of the peace, or ensuring that the SO Act is being complied with (see ‘Power to search without warrant’ in Chapter 3.5: Arrest, search, interrogation and your rights). Meter readers and post office, health and council officers Gas, water and electricity meter readers, post office officials, health officers, and council officers are also allowed to come onto your property for specific purposes related to their jobs. These people should show you proof of their identity. Licensed surveyors Licensed surveyors (and people acting under their direction and supervision) are also permitted onto your land for the purpose of carrying out a survey. Even then, there are rules about notifying property owners; also, entry is only permitted at certain times of the day. Members of the fire brigade Members of the fire brigade can come onto your property and do whatever they think is necessary to stop a fire, including deliberately damaging your property. No one else is allowed to cause any damage to your property. Injuries on your premises What are ‘your premises’? You are responsible for the safety of people using your premises. A place is your premises if you decide who is and who is not allowed onto it. If the rental provider is responsible for the maintenance of and the repairs to premises, then the rental provider is also responsible for people who hurt themselves on the premises. Premises include any fixed or movable structure, including any vessel, vehicle or aircraft. What is your responsibility? You must take all reasonable care to ensure that any person on your premises will not be hurt because of the state it is in. If you do not, you will have to pay compensation to anyone who is hurt while on the premises. In deciding whether you have taken reasonable care, a court will look at: • how likely it was that an injury would occur; • how serious the injury is; • how the injured person came to be on your premises; • the nature of your premises; • whether you knew, or ought to have known, that people were likely to be on your premises; • the age of the injured person; • the ability of the injured person to appreciate the danger; and • how difficult or expensive it would have been for you to fix the thing that caused the injury, or to protect people from it. Fences Introduction Fence disputes are the most common type of dispute between neighbours. Disagreements over fences may relate to: • where the fence is; • whether it’s necessary; • who should pay for it; • who should maintain it; • who should do the work on it; or • what type of fence is needed. In Victoria, the Fences Act 1968 (Vic) (‘ Fences Act ’) makes neighbours jointly responsible for the cost of construction and maintenance of fences. The Fences Act makes it clear that owners must contribute in equal proportions to a ‘sufficient dividing fence’. Section 6 sets out a number of factors to be considered in determining what is a sufficient dividing fence. These factors include the existing dividing fence (if any); the purposes for which the