The Situation: The Parliament of Western Australia has introduced new legislation to modernise the State's class action regime (which is seen to be outdated, uncertain and silent on many important procedural aspects of...more
Australia has started to observe a rise in the number of data breach class actions being investigated and filed, although there has not yet been a successful data breach class action there. A range of factors are at play...more
5/28/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Australia ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Class Action ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
International Data Transfers ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws
Product recalls are becoming increasingly common. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") and industry-specific regulators are very active in both overseeing product recalls and prosecuting non-compliance...more
The Situation: Fernandez & Anor v State of New South Wales & Ors [2019] NSWSC 255 raised the question: In a situation where there are multiple defendants, is it necessary that a class representative have a claim against each...more
The Situation: Litigation funding is a major driver of Australian class actions. Challenges to common fund orders were mounted in the Federal Court and Supreme Court of New South Wales by defendants.
The Decision: After a...more
Courts Empowered, More Action Needed on Shareholder Claims and Contingency Fee for Class Action Lawyers to Increase Class Action Activity -
The Australian Law Reform Commission Class Action and Litigation Funding Report...more
The Situation: It is relatively uncommon in Australia for workers or employees to bring class actions against their employers in which they allege sham contracting arrangements.
The Development: Four class actions, which...more
The Situation: The court's general power to make "any order [it] thinks appropriate or necessary to ensure that justice is done" in a class action has been employed to make a wide range of orders, including to remove the...more
The Background: In a shareholder class action, the plaintiff sought discovery of documents from the defendant partnership in relation to alleged statutory contraventions associated with its role as auditor of a company that...more
The Situation: Competing class actions, particularly in relation to shareholder claims, have increased in Australia and imposed unnecessary costs on respondents. In Perera v GetSwift Limited [2018] FCA 732, Lee J of the...more
A number of Federal Court of Australia judgments in the first half of 2018 have adopted or raised reforms to the mandatory approval process for class action settlements. The reforms mean that the class action settlement...more
Twenty-five years after the introduction of Australia’s federal class action regime, class action law remains a significant element of the country’s litigation landscape. Enhancements to Australia’s class action jurisprudence...more
As part of a wide-ranging crackdown on multinational tax avoidance, the Australian Federal Government and the Australian Tax Office have introduced significant reforms to the country’s transfer pricing regulations. The...more
12/5/2017
/ Arms Length Transactions ,
Australia ,
Australian Tax Authority ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Diverted Profits Tax ,
Foreign Tax ,
International Tax Issues ,
Multinationals ,
New Rules ,
OECD ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Transfer Pricing
The Background: The defendant was faced with two "open" class actions (i.e. including all putative group members) in relation to the same allegations.
The Issue: The defendant sought a court order permanently staying...more
Recently, in Jones v Treasury Wine Estates Limited (No 2) [2017] FCA 296, the Federal Court deviated from past class action practice. Registration was required to facilitate a mediation and group members could only...more
For the first time, the Federal Court of Australia has allowed the applicants in an Australian proceeding to make applications for orders under 28 USC § 1782. In Lavecky v Visa Inc [2017] FCA 454 ("Lavecky"), the applicants...more
Following the 2009 Montara Oil Field oil spill in the Timor Sea, an Indonesian seaweed farmer brought a class action in Australia against the operator of the Montara Oil Field. The action was commenced on behalf of a class of...more
2016 saw a number of transformational developments in class action litigation in Australia, providing further evidence of the impact this form of litigation is having in terms of cost and risk for business. While the year...more