Jam Land, the company co-owned by energy minister Angus Taylor, is contesting an order made by the federal Environment Department to restore 28.5 hectares of illegally poisoned native grassland.
An Airbnb host’s claim for JobKeeper payments has been shot down, with a tribunal saying the accommodation of paying guests at one’s own home did not constitute a business.
A litigation funder has told a Senate committee that class action reforms that purport to protect group members by guaranteeing them at least 70 per cent of litigation proceeds is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” that will make it harder to bring claims.
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.
Victorian workers challenging the government’s health directions requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have lost their second bid to disqualify the judge hearing the case on the ground of apprehended bias.
Two landmark class actions seeking damages from the Victorian government for economic losses suffered during last year’s second wave of COVID-19 have been thrown out, but one of the cases will be given a second chance to proceed.
Fearing passage of a contentious bill in parliament that threatens to curb open class actions, plaintiffs law firms and funders have raced to court with new cases in the past two weeks.
Spurred by the Banksia class action scandal, the federal government has implemented new regulations requiring litigation funders to manage conflicts of interest that arise when the lawyers acting on a class action have a “material financial interest” in the funder that’s running it.
Specialist workplace relations consultancy Employsure has been ordered to pay a $1 million penalty over a series of misleading Google advertisements, a figure significantly lower than the $5 million sought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The federal government’s latest class action reform bill that would effectively cap legal fees and funding commissions has narrowly passed the House of Representatives.