Region

A judge has raised concerns about a bid by the rail workers union for a judicial “green light” to deactivate ticket readers as part of a protracted industrial action in Sydney, saying the court should not be used as an “adviser”.

A trial set to start next week in a class action over Sydney’s $3 billion delayed light rail could be pushed off until next year as the parties clash over an eleventh hour bid by the applicant to amend the case.

The ACCC has expressed concerns that Forestry Corporation of NSW’s proposed acquisition of Hume Forests could lead to price increases in regional areas by removing a significant competitor in the softwood market. 

A judge has ordered Shine Lawyers to pay indemnity costs in a side dispute over an “objectionable” subpoena the firm issued five days before trial was set to start in a personal injury case over alleged sexual abuse at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre.

The Supreme Court of Victoria has been called out in a report into sexually inappropriate behavior and bullying by judges as an “extremely hierarchical” workplace that has all the risk factors for harassment.

The NSW gaming regulator has suspended the Star Entertainment Group’s casino license and handed it a $100 million fine after uncovering anti-money laundering breaches and “inherently deceptive” misconduct.

A $13 million commission sought by the funder that bankrolled the Opal Tower class action is stalling settlement approval, as debate continues over whether the funder can recoup the costs of after-the-event insurance from group members.

A judge has dismissed the majority of Microsoft’s six-year-old intellectual property suit against a Melbourne computer retailer over its Windows 7 software, which previously netted the Silicon Valley giant a $2.8 million payout from Judge Sandy Street that was slammed as a “regrettable” judicial failure.

The University of Melbourne has hit back at the Fair Work Ombudsman’s allegations that it took adverse action against two casual academics to prevent them from claiming payment for extra hours worked, but admitted a supervisor penned an email referring to one of them as a “self-entitled Y-genner”.

A judge overseeing mining magnate Clive Palmer’s latest spat with the West Australian government has declined to issue an injunction preventing the state from enforcing liabilities against Palmer’s companies Mineralogy and International Minerals under the controversial ‘Palmer Act’.