Thomas Prince

The Full Federal Court has held Facebook can be sued in Australia for allegedly disclosing the personal data of over 300,000 users to political research firm Cambridge Analytica.

Class action settlement totals skyrocketed to over $900 million last year, and one law firm negotiated the lion’s share, with $672 million in settlements under its belt.

An appeals court has found it “inconceivable” that legislation aimed at protecting public health would not have afforded the New South Wales health minister the power to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for certain workers, given the outbreak of the Delta strain of the coronavirus.

A court has struck down the third wave of challenges to the New South Wales public health orders mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for health workers, ruling the “dictates” of a person’s conscience do not relieve them of compliance with the orders.

A court has dismissed challenges to the New South Wales public health orders that made it mandatory for certain workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, declaring they did not breach workers’ rights to bodily integrity.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority can’t rely on defences claiming it is a “public or other authority” to limit the liability of a class action brought over alleged negligent water management, an appeals court has found.

The applicants in the Queensland floods class action have asked the High Court to overturn a judgment which found dam operator Seqwater was not liable because it was functioning as a public authority when operating two dams during the 2011 floods, arguing the case raises important issues about appeals in ‘mega’ litigation.

The New South Wales government has accused anti-vaccination advocates of having a “misguided” and “one-dimensional focus” on the fundamental rights of the individual over those of a community contending with the highly-contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. 

Individuals challenging public health orders mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for certain workers in New South Wales have told a court “the line was crossed” when the state government threatened their livelihoods.

Health experts have told a court hearing a challenge to a requirement that certain workers get the COVID-19 jab that vaccinations are an effective tool in the fight against the coronavirus, despite the global surge of ‘breakthrough’ infections caused by the outbreak of the highly-infectious Delta strain.