Rebecca Gilsenan

The first half of 2025 has been eventful for class actions in Australia. We have seen the first wave of Group Costs Orders (GCOs) approved at settlement, a significant decision in the CBA class action signalling developments in securities litigation, and record milestones for the Class Actions Division at Maurice Blackburn. 

Since the introduction of the GCO regime in 2020, Victoria has become a popular jurisdiction for class actions filings. This is unsurprising given GCOs appear to offer a greater share of returns to group members as well as more transparency and certainty of funding and costs arrangements. Notably, we have settled seven class actions with GCOs in the past 12 months, of which three have been approved, and four are approaching approval hearings. These were among the first cases filed under the new regime in 2020. For the three approved settlements, the courts saw no reason to alter the GCO rates that were set in the early stages of the proceedings. These settlements cover a range of case types including consumer cases about add-on insurance, flex commissions on car loans, vehicle faults and continuous disclosure. As we continue to see more GCO cases finalised in the coming months, the popularity of the scheme speaks to the years of advocacy by Maurice Blackburn to the benefit of millions of everyday Australians who have accessed the justice system though this mechanism.

In other developments, the Full Court of the Federal Court’s decision in the CBA shareholder class action appeal has resulted in significant and, broadly, positive, developments for the securities litigation landscape in Australia. 

The Full Court’s decision, while undoubtedly disappointing for the parties on both sides, having found a disclosure breach but no loss, represents a positive development for the jurisdiction as a whole. The Full Court overturned most of the first instance findings in respect of the pleading requirements for disclosure contraventions and materiality, which would have made it particularly challenging to commence and conduct shareholder class actions. It also provided clarification of the circumstances in which constructive awareness of material information may be established. While the quantum of any market inflation was not found to have been established on the evidence, the decision also provides guidance as to how that might be attempted in future cases.

While our class actions practice has set industry standards for nearly three decades, the last 12 months has been significant by any metric. We secured settlements totalling over $1.3 billion in FY24-25. We have resolved 10 class actions – several after trial – and so far, we have obtained six settlement approvals. The practice delivered six of the top 10 class action recoveries for the year, two of which sit within the top 10 largest settlements in Australian history. These recoveries are not only monumental in their scale, they represent real outcomes in terms of access to justice and compensation for hundreds of thousands of group members. 

Rebecca Gilsenan
National Head of Class Actions

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