Region

Appellate guidance is needed on whether a history of cooperation between law firms that brought competing class actions can be the deciding factor in a close carriage contest, the Victorian Court of Appeal has heard.

The Commonwealth can be held criminally responsible for damage to First Nations sacred sites in the Northern Territory, the High Court has unanimously found in a case over construction damage to Gunlom Falls in Kakadu National Park.

A County Court of Victoria judge has been found to have breached the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers in his handling of a rape trial, following a complaint by the state’s top prosecutor.

The ATO has lost its appeal of a tribunal decision in favour of Perth land developer Tina Bazzo, with the court rejecting its “all or nothing” approach to a key provision of the Taxation Administration Act.

A judge has granted the Victorian government’s bid to dismiss a class action over its decision to retire Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers, but allowed the applicant to recast his claim, despite protests from the state. 

A judge hearing a class action against the New South Wales government and police commissioner over allegedly illegal strip searches at music festivals has criticised the state for failing to comply with court orders on time. 

A judge on the Supreme Court of Victoria says he is a ‘convert’ on group costs orders, which allow law firms running class action to earn a cut of any settlement or judgment, saying GCOs will give better returns to group members and that conflicts can be managed.

A leading commercial barrister who represented ASIC in its first fees-for-no-service case stemming from the banking royal commission has been appointed a judge on the NSW Supreme Court.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has struck back at claims in a Fair Work suit brought by a graduate associate, denying liability for the alleged sexual harassment by the woman’s manager at multiple Sydney bars.

Charges accusing Victoria’s Department of Health of health and safety breaches during the state’s hotel quarantine program have been dropped on the eve of trial, after the state succeeded in excluding evidence submitted to an inquiry into the disastrous program.