BRJ v The Corporate Trustees of The Diocese of Grafton [2022] NSWSC 1077 On 2 September 2022, the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered a stay of both the primary claim and the cross-claim brought by the defendant against the alleged perpetrator in this matter. The judgment is notable as it sets out the […]
Willmot v State of Queensland [2022] QSC 167 On 22 August 2022, the Queensland Supreme Court granted a permanent stay of proceedings involving allegations of sexual and physical abuse dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. This decision highlights the Court’s relevant considerations when granting a permanent stay of proceedings. Cassandra Wills, Emma Bray and […]
Google LLC v Defteros [2022] HCA 27 The High Court’s recent decision in Google LLC v Defteros [2022] HCA 27, combined with the next stage of the Model Defamation Amendment Provisions process, indicate a change in direction away from defamation claims against internet intermediaries. Google LLC succeeded in its appeal to the High Court of […]
Strata Plan 92450 v JKN Para 1 Pty Ltd & Toplace Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC The Supreme Court of NSW recently handed down a decision on a damages claim regarding building cladding. The Court found that the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate that cladding was combustible and that an ‘alternative solution’ could not be performed […]
The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore v GLJ [2022] NSWCA 78 The NSW Court of Appeal has overturned a first instance decision and stayed historic child abuse proceedings in circumstances where the alleged perpetrator had died before the allegations were put to him. The case was stayed despite evidence […]
The Full Federal Court has unanimously overturned the landmark Sharma decision, which found the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment owed a duty of care to Australian children to avoid risk of personal injury when considering whether to approve a coalmine expansion. While this appeal concerned one Minister’s specific exercise of power under Commonwealth legislation – […]
The Landel decision is the third Queensland instalment in ‘flood definition’ cases, which arise from the unfortunate events of the 2011 Brisbane floods and the more recent 2019 Townsville floods. In this matter, the insured lodged two claims for damage caused by monsoonal rain events and consequent flooding in and around Townsville. One was accepted […]
Fairfax Media Publications, Nationwide News and the Australian News Channel are currently being sued for defamation in separate proceedings by Dylan Voller, a former detainee in a juvenile justice detention centre, over third-party comments made about him on their Facebook pages. Before determining whether the Facebook comments were defamatory, the NSW Supreme Court ordered that […]
Just over six months after requirements for mandatory notification of serious privacy breaches were introduced with the Privacy Act 2020, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has released further guidance in a blog post. The update makes it clear the OPC has ended the grace period for agencies to adapt to the new rules. […]
In BB v Helena College [2021] WADC 42, the Western Australia District Court found that three different policies of insurance, held by an insured school, responded to historic acts of intentional sexual abuse by a school teacher. In this article, W+K’s Sean O’Connor and Patrick Thompson provide an in-depth analysis of the coverage issues addressed […]
