Oceania: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

As Group 2 entities commence their first reporting period under Australia's mandatory climate reporting regime, ASIC's early observations highlight key disclosure expectations and areas for caution.

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.

The Harman undertaking, more accurately termed the implied obligation in Australia, automatically restricts how documents and information obtained through compulsory court processes may be used beyond their original proceeding. This obligation binds parties, solicitors, experts, and others who receive such material, covering disclosed documents, interrogatory answers, subpoenaed materials, affidavits and witness statements.

Legal professional privilege shields confidential communications made for obtaining legal advice or litigation purposes, but Queensland's civil procedure rules impose strict disclosure requirements and affidavit obligations when privilege claims are challenged. Expert reports and drafts face particular scrutiny, as they may not qualify for privilege protection under the rules.

Learn the essential steps for drafting and filing a statement of claim in Queensland courts, from identifying the correct jurisdiction and parties through to proper service of documents. This guide breaks down the technical requirements for pleading material facts, particularising claims, and ensuring compliance with court rules and approved forms.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) has suspended a specialist surgeon’s registration for six months following serious deficiencies in her surgical care, colonoscopy procedures, post-operative management and record-keeping.

Nurses and other healthcare workers who suffer injuries while caring for patients in hospitals, aged care facilities, or other clinical settings often ask whether their employer may be legally responsible for the harm they have suffered.

A New South Wales Supreme Court case examines the challenges of pursuing a medical negligence claim more than 20 years after surgery, where the plaintiff's credibility was severely undermined during 14 days of cross-examination. The judgment addresses critical issues surrounding limitation periods, the requirement for cogent explanations of delay, and the evidentiary burden of establishing disability or incapacity to suspend statutory time limits.

Recent Personal Injury Commission decisions have established a consistent framework for assessing sleep disorder claims in workers compensation matters, clarifying when insomnia and sleep disturbances qualify as independently assessable neurological impairments. This analysis examines the evolving jurisprudence and its practical implications for insurers defending permanent impairment claims.

NSW emergency service volunteers who suffer workplace injuries resulting in permanent impairment may be entitled to lump sum compensation. Understanding the assessment thresholds, timing requirements, and common disputes in permanent impairment claims is essential for maximizing entitlements under the statutory framework.

In workers' compensation claims for hearing loss, establishing the 'last noisy employer' requires more than simply proving machinery was present in the workplace. A recent NSW Personal Injury Commission decision examines what evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that employment created a real risk of hearing loss, and when a worker's recollection may be too unreliable to discharge the burden of proof.