High Court shuts down solicitors’ CFOs in the Federal Court

By: Amanda Beattie and Gavin Davies In a decision that is bound to disappoint plaintiff law firms but delight litigation funders, the High Court has quashed the Full Federal Court’s decision to allow solicitor’s CFOs in the Federal Court in the Blue Sky Class Action (see Kain v R&B Investments Pty Ltd Ernst & Young […]

NSW Court of Appeal confirms school’s duty of care extends beyond the bell

By: Greg Carruthers-Smith, Meisha Tjiong and Chad Farah State of New South Wales v T2 (by his tutor T1) [2025] NSWCA 165 At a glance In October 2017, a Year 9 student was violently assaulted by his peers shortly after the school bell, and outside school boundaries, sustaining significant injuries. The New South Wales Court of […]

Federal court rules no duty of care to Torres Strait Islanders in landmark climate case

By: Amanda Beattie, James Clohesy and Clare McNamara Justice Wigney delivered his judgment in Pabai Pabai v Commonwealth of Australia (Pabai) yesterday, an important decision in the context of climate change litigation in Australia and for government agencies across the country. Pabai was brought as a class action on behalf of all Torres Strait Islanders alleging […]

CPS 230 Operational Risk Management: Industry Survey 2025

Thank you to PFS Consulting for the opportunity to share findings from their CPS 230 Operational Risk Management Industry Survey for 2025. From 1 July 2025, Australia’s financial services sector enters a new era with the commencement of APRA’s CPS 230 – Operational Risk Management. This marks a significant shift in how operational risk, business […]

Is the new tort for serious invasion of privacy relevant to Government?

By: Clare McNamara and John McPherson From 10 June 2025, serious invasions of privacy are actionable as a new statutory tort in Australia. The new tort was introduced by addition of a new Schedule 2 to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Note that Schedule 2 was inserted into the Privacy Act 1988 by the Privacy and Other […]

Privacy Awareness Week 2025: Your privacy and reporting duties following a data breach or cyber incident

By: Kieran Doyle, Nicole Gabryk, Rebecca Wilson and Jordan Chen This Privacy Awareness Week, we’re taking a closer look at the privacy and regulatory reporting obligations businesses must navigate following a data breach or cyber incident. Recent reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), new cyber security legislation, and other regulatory developments have introduced a […]

Thailand’s new law expands cybercrime prevention and enforcement powers

By: Ian Johnston, Sorawat Wongkaweepairot and Nuttida Doungwirote At a glance Expanded reporting requirements now apply to digital asset businesses, aligning them with traditional financial institutions. Banks and service providers must proactively block or close accounts linked to blacklisted individuals. A new central cybercrime authority has broad powers to investigate, suspend transactions, and publish offender […]

New tort of serious invasion of privacy

By: Richard Leder, Georgie Austin, Nicole Gabryk, Zoë Burchill and Isabelle Ferrali At a glance From 10 June 2025, serious invasions of privacy will become legally actionable in Australia. This marks a major reform, introducing a new privacy tort that allows individuals to bring claims for either intrusions upon seclusion (such as unauthorised surveillance) or […]

Unpacking privilege: Can forensic reports after cyber-attacks be shielded from production?

By: Kieran Doyle , Nicole Gabryk and Gavin Davies At a glance The Federal Court rejected Medibank’s claim of legal privilege over Deloitte’s forensic reports, finding they were created primarily for non-legal purposes such as managing ASX disclosures, public relations, and APRA oversight. Privilege was upheld for other materials, including those from CrowdStrike, Threat Intelligence, and […]

High Court of Australia endorses liability cap under Montreal Convention

By: James Cooper, Francois Guillot and Ethan Naylor Evans v Air Canada [2025] HCA 22 At a glance The High Court found Air Canada had not waived its right to limit liability under Article 21(2) of the Montreal Convention, despite language in its Tariff. A waiver of valuable legal rights requires clear, unambiguous wording – […]