Class actions a reality in WA, and the High Court gets active on appeals

_{< Go back to Class Actions Landscape Australia}

WA Class Action Regime 

On 25 March 2023 the Civil Procedure (Representative Proceedings) Act 2022 (WA) came into operation. The Act introduces a class action regime in Western Australia which, unsurprisingly, is closely modelled on Part IVA of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) (with only minor, immaterial drafting differences). In addition, the Act contains (in s 36) an express abolition of the torts of maintenance and champerty.

High Court Special Leave Applications

In March and April, the High Court dealt with three separate applications for special leave to appeal in class action related matters, namely:

1. On 17 March 2023 the High Court granted special leave to appeal from the decision of the Full Federal Court in Carnival plc v Karpik (Ruby Princess) (2022) 404 ALR 386; [2022] FCAFC 149 concerning whether a class action waiver clause was an ‘unfair term’ (Karpik v Carnival plc [2023] HCATrans 33).
2. On the same day, the High Court granted special leave to appeal from the decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal in Redland City Council v Kozik [2022] QCA 158, in which the Court of Appeal held that the appellant council was liable to repay the full amount of special rates invalidly imposed on a cohort of ratepayers, notwithstanding that part of those rates had already been expended for the specific benefit of those ratepayers before the invalidity was discovered (Redland City Council v Kozik [2023] HCATrans 34).
3. On 13 April 2023 the High Court refused special leave to appeal from the decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in SunWater Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Co [2022] NSWCA 273, in which the Court of Appeal held that SunWater Ltd was not entitled to indemnity from its insurers in respect of the amount which it paid to settle the Queensland floods class action (SunWater Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Co [2023] HCASL 49).