On 19 October, NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman introduced the District Court Amendment Bill 2022.
The Bill proposes to change the Court’s:
- civil jurisdictional limit from $750,000 to $1,250,000
- equity jurisdictional limit from $20,000 to $100,000, and
- jurisdictional limit applying to temporary injunctions from $20,000 to $100,000.
As indicated in the Second Reading, the Bill was introduced to reflect inflation (given the jurisdictional limit has not been increased for 25 years) and to align more closely with other comparable jurisdictional limits. The amendments will only apply to proceedings commenced after the Act comes into effect.
The Bill is still before the legislative assembly, and debate has been adjourned to 26 October 2022. The Bill has not yet passed but is likely to as it is reported to have received broad support from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Chief Magistrate of the Local Court, the Law Society of New South Wales and the New South Wales Bar Association.
An obvious outcome of the Bill’s passage is an increase in the amount of high value claims being litigated in NSW’s District Court. We will keep you updated on its progress.