Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said he watched “in horror” as a bill mandating that funded class actions be registered as managed investment schemes passed through Parliament in 2020 without consultation.
The Full Federal Court was emphatic in its decision that the environment minister does not owe a duty of care to Australian children to shield them from climate change harm, but there is no doubt the law will be put to the test again soon, says Corrs Chambers Westgarth’s Louise Camenzuli, Julia Green and Max Newman.
The government sector has overtaken banking and finance as the most frequent target of class actions, according to a new report.
The Full Federal Court has overturned a historic judgment that found the federal minister for the environment owed a duty of care to Australians under 18 to protect them from ‘catastrophic’ harm caused by the approval of the Vickery coal mine expansion.
An appeals court has sided with shareholders in their challenge to a ruling tossing a class action against engineering services company Worley, which was found to have had reasonable grounds for issuing overly rosy earnings guidance eight years ago.
The law firm administering the $112 million Robodebt class action settlement has asked a court to sign off on a $2.2 million bill to cover the full projected costs of distributing the funds, a figure three times the estimate calculated by a costs referee.
Even after 30 years in action, the future of class actions in Australia remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is the impact class actions have had – for claimants, lawyers, litigation funders and for corporate Australia, writes Corrs Chambers Westgarth’s Chris Pagent, Brad Woodhouse, Alex Ji and Thomas Scott.
A former Fair Work Commission vice president has sued the ABC for allegedly tricking him into participating in a Four Corners interview about his relationship with controversial union figure Kathy Jackson, who was found to have misused $1.4 million in union funds.
Cricket Tasmania has denied allegations by a former front receptionist that she was the victim of sexual harassment by Australian cricket players and senior managers, and says she has not suffered loss as a result of any alleged misbehaviour.
The access to justice and efficiency objectives of the 30-year class action regime would be better served by more active scrutiny at the point of commencement, say Allens partners Belinda Thompson and Jenny Campbell.