By: Richard Leder OAM, Sean O’Connor, Rhyse Collins and Deniz Coskundag Bird v DP [2024] HCA 41 | View previous article summarising the decision At a glance The High Court unanimously found that the Diocese of Ballarat was not vicariously liable for the tortious conduct of one of its priests against the respondent when he […]
At a glance This morning the High Court of Australia handed down three groundbreaking judgments in the institutional abuse space – Bird v DP, RC v Salvation Army (WA) Property Trust and Willmot v State of QLD. These decisions will have a significant impact on the ability of abuse survivors to recover damages and will […]
By: Meisha Tjiong, William Yeo and Hannah Turl At a glance On 4 and 17 October 2024, the District Court of NSW delivered its decisions in Stanberg v State of New South Wales [2024] NSW DC 462, and entered a judgment for the State with the Plaintiff to pay the State’s party/party costs and partial […]
By: Jonathan Maher and Tushka Sridharan At a glance The Court of Appeal reduced the jury’s $1.1 million award of pain and suffering damages to $550,000, deeming the original amount “manifestly excessive”, aligning it with judge-alone awards in similar cases. The jury’s $1.3 million exemplary damages award was set aside entirely, with the Court of […]
By: Patrick Thompson and James Clohesy At a glance The UK Supreme Court has delivered another judgment dealing with when a public authority can owe a private duty of care to members of the public. The decision reaffirms what is becoming a bright line distinction in the UK between cases where the public authority, by […]
By: Patrick Thompson At a glance In Lynn Waller v Romy Barrett [2024] VCC 962, the plaintiff successfully argued that the defendant breached her confidences and invaded her privacy by disclosing private details from counselling sessions to media outlets, leading to damages awarded. Judge Tran recognised a distinct cause of action for invasion of privacy […]
By: Richard Leder OAM and Chris Lawrance Bird v DP (A Pseudonym) At a glance In 2020, DP commenced proceedings claiming damages arising from sexual assaults committed by a Catholic Priest, Father Bryan Coffey, at the home of DP’s parents in Port Fairy in 1971. At first instance, Justice Jack Forest held that the Diocese was […]
By: Richard Leder OAM, Blake Pappas and Deniz Coskundag AB (A Pseudonym) & Anor v Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission [2024] HCA 10 At a glance On 13 March 2024, the High Court of Australia delivered a judgment involving IBAC’s obligations under s 162(3) of the IBAC Act 2011 (Cth) regarding the disclosure of “adverse material”. […]
Young v Chief Executive Officer (Housing) [2023] HCA 31 At a glance On 1 November 2023, The High Court of Australia held that the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of the Northern Territory (Tribunal) is empowered by s 122(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1999 (NT) (the Act) to compensate tenants for distress or disappointment suffered […]
DJW v State of Queensland [2023] QSC 138 At a glance On 19 October 2023, the Supreme Court of Queensland handed down its decision to permanently stay the proceedings in an historic abuse claim. The claim involved a psychiatric injury that was alleged to have developed due to the sexual and physical abuse of an […]
