Australia: Class Actions

Music festivals are high-energy and chaotic events with thousands of people in attendance – often involving alcohol and illicit drugs. For years, many young people in New South Wales were taken into tents and portable cubicles at music festivals for strip searches, told to remove their clothing, and made to squat, bend or lift body parts while police looked on. This process is obviously extremely demeaning, and forces people into extremely uncomfortable positions at the demand of authorities.

Australian class action risk is no longer shaped primarily by domestic precedent. Overseas litigation, regulatory action and global funding dynamics increasingly operate as leading indicators – setting the direction, timing and form of claims that later emerge in Australia.

In this episode of Inside Employment, Natalie Gaspar and Lucy Boyd are joined by HSF Kramer Disputes Partner, Melissa Gladstone to explore the rise of employment class actions in Australia...

The cyber and data security landscape continues to evolve at pace. It can be challenging to keep up, so we have collated our "top 10" cyber stories from the last month, so you don't have to.

The Australian High Court has endorsed the views of lower courts and held that litigation funding fees are not recoverable as damages, thereby preventing funding costs being transferred to defendants, in nuisance claims.

Our Regulatory and Class Action Risk Symposium reflected the changing landscape of risk, regulation, and corporate accountability in Australia.

The court emphasised the importance of the neutrality of retained experts.

Landmark decision has major implications for representative proceedings. Courts have the power to approve 'soft class closure' notices under s175(5) CPA.

Regulatory and class actions share a common motive; deterrence, both specific and general.