Bill Madden (LexBlog Australia)

Stradford (a pseudonym) v Judge Vasta [2023] FCA 1020 (on the Federal Court website) Wigney J A novel matter in which the applicant was applicant was imprisoned for contempt in matrimonial proceeding in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, for purported non-compliance with disclosure orders. He sued a judge of the Federal Circuit Court, the Commonwealth and the State of Queensland...

The High Court of Australia will make available to the public a live stream of its special leave hearings from August 2023. The live stream will be accessible via the High Court website (https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases/cases-av/sla-live-streaming). Conditions attaching to accessing the live stream are published on the live stream page. Audio-visual recordings of the special leave hearings...

BTM1 v Scout Association of Australia New South Wales Branch (No.2) [2023] NSWSC 806 (on Caselaw). Garling J. Following a permanent stay order the defendant obtained an order for costs. The plaintiff sought to modify such an order on five grounds, summarised as follows: the plaintiff was within his rights to commence proceedings in this Court in...

In May 2024 the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Supreme Court of Tasmania will mark their bicentenaries as the oldest courts in Australia. These courts were created by the Third Charter of Justice promulgated at Westminster in October 1823. There are few courts in the world with an uninterrupted and independent existence...

Dean v Pope [2023] HCA Trans 88 (on AUSTLII). Ada Lim & others have kindly drawn my attention to the recent special leave application arising from the NSW Court of Appeal decision of Dean v Pope [2022] NSWCA 260. The special leave issue that arose in this case was a question of the construction of...

Lexis Nexis has kindly published a new edition of our book, which is due for release in early June. Online pre-orders from the Lexis Nexis website presently provide a 10% discount on the usual price. (See link below) Institutional abuse of children: Legal remedies and redress in Australia, 2nd edition. The chapter list for the...

BTM1 v Scout Association of Australia New South Wales Branch [2023] NSWSC 431 (on Caselaw) The defendant sought a stay of proceedings in relation to a claim by BTM1, who alleged abuse by a scout leader in 1979-1982. The defendant satisfied the court that the circumstances were so exceptional as to require an order that...

A very interesting article by Neera Bhatia & Lily Porceddu has been published in the Adelaide Law Review dealing with emerging trends and legal implications of internet services in the creation of “non-traditional” families in Australia. The article is available on an open access basis here: Donors and Dads online. [BillMaddensWordpress #2114]

Published in an open access supplement to the Medical Journal of Australia sponsored by the Queensland University of Technology is a series of articles coordinated by Professor Ben Mathews, arising from an Australian Child Maltreatment Study. This supplement introduces the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), the first national survey in the world to study in...

Fowkes v Boston Scientific Corporation [2023] FCA 230 (on JADE). With thanks to Justine Anderson for drawing attention to this ruling, in which Lee J held that the settlement sum seemed to be within a fair and reasonable range (albeit at the lower end of the range). Accordingly, it qualified for approval pursuant to s 33V(1) of...

Medical Board of Australia v Saunders [2023] WASAT 8 (on Austlii) In this conduct matter from Western Australia, it is unusual to see an order made that a member of the Medical Board of Australia attend a proposed mediation. The order was made despite the the limited information that the parties were able to provide...

RC v The Salvation Army (Western Australia) Property Trust [2023] WASCA 29 (on eCourts). With thanks to Nicholas Bentley for drawing attention to this decision, which arose from a stay order. The alleged abuse arose in 1959/1960, the person to whom the abuse was said to have been reported died in 1968 and the alleged...

Australia’s health practitioner regulator has outlined a blueprint to better protect patients from sexual misconduct in healthcare, as well as a range of broader reforms to keep patients safe. To improve it’s handling of sexual boundary matters, Ahpra and National Boards will: Commence a public review of the Criminal History registration standard which applies to all...

The third edition of this text Professional Liability in Australia was written in 2015, so it is pleasing to see a new edition released in late 2022. Responsibility for the comprehensive medical chapter, previously written by Stephen Walmsley, has been assumed by Richard O’Keefe. As before, this is a detailed book with chapters as follows:...

The Medical Board of Australia has reviewed its existing Guidelines for technology-based consultations and an Information sheet – Inter-jurisdictional technology-based patient consultations. The Board is consulting (until 17 February 2023) on proposed updated Guidelines: Telehealth consultations with patients. [BillMaddensWordpress #2083]

Waine v Carnival PLC t/as P&O Cruises Australia [2022] NSWDC 650 (on Caselaw) The plaintiff suffered a miscarriage during and after a cruise supplied by the defendant, Carnival PLC trading as P&O Cruises Australia. She suffered heavy bleeding and discharge of the products of conception whilst in Auckland Airport on her way to Australia, which resulted in her being hospitalised in Auckland...

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced the appointment of Justice Jayne Jagot to the High Court bench, replacing the retiring Justice Patrick Keane. Justice Jagot has been serving on the Federal Court since 2008, and before that was a judge of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court. When she takes her place on the...

Dental Board of Australia v Nairn [2022] WASAT 86 (on JADE). With thanks to Enore Panetta for noting this matter., where a dental practitioner had been convicted of offences under the Emergency Management Act 2005 (WA) for failing to self quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic. That failure appears to have followed periods of interstate travel...

This is not intended as an advertisement. It is interesting to note however the proposed launch of Uber Health in Australia. The service appears aimed at health professions who wish to provide access to care for those who need it by requesting efficient transportation and coordinating same-day deliveries using the Uber Health dashboard. The Sydney Morning...

Kikuyu v Hazzard (No 2) [2022] FCA 812 (on Federal Court of Australia) The applicant sought declarations that certain public health orders made by the first respondent (Minister), and a determination made by the second respondent (Secretary), are invalid. The sole ground advanced was that the State provisions authorising those instruments are inconsistent with Part 2 of Chapter 8 of the...

Medical Board of Australia v Lee (Review and Regulation) [2022] VCAT 667 (on AUSTLII). A medical practitioner has had his registration cancelled for conduct that was ‘outrageous’ and ‘far beyond the standards expected’ of the profession. Dr Lee admitted to making social media posts that were ‘utterly unacceptable’ and agreed that his conduct amounted to...

Knowles v Commonwealth of Australia [2022] FCA 741 (on AUSTLII) The pleadings in this matter alleged the invalidity of certain measures relating to Covid restrictions. The respondents (being the Commonwealth, the State of NSW, the State of Victoria and others successfully sought to have the claim struck out. The respondents discharged their burden of proving...

Knowles v Commonwealth of Australia [2022] FCA 741 (on AUSTLII) The pleadings in this matter alleged the invalidity of certain measures relating to Covid restrictions. The respondents (being the Commonwealth, the State of NSW, the State of Victoria and others successfully sought to have the claim struck out. The respondents discharged their burden of proving...

QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited v BB & Anor [2022] WASCA 61 (on JADE). The Court of Appeal (WA) considered an dismissed an appeal from an insurer, QBE, to hold it liable to indemnify a College Council in respect of a claim made against the College by a student BB. The policy governing QBE’s liability to...

Following attention to this issue in NSW (under s 150 of the National Law in that jurisdiction), Lee v Medical Board of Australia [2022] WASAT 28 (on AUSTLII) focuses on similar issues under the Western Australian legislation (section 156). In the context of charges of domestic violence, the Tribunal considered the scope of public interest...

Following attention to this issue in NSW (under s 150 of the National Law in that jurisdiction), Lee v Medical Board of Australia [2022] WASAT 28 (on AUSTLII) focuses on similar issues under the Western Australian legislation (section 156). In the context of charges of domestic violence, the Tribunal considered the scope of public interest...

Herron v HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Ltd [2022] FCAFC 68 (on AUSTLII). Conducted over two years from 1988-1990, the Royal Commission into Mental Health Services, otherwise known as the Chelmsford Royal Commission, examined mental health services in New South Wales. The commission, chaired by Justice John Slattery, specifically focused on the practices of the Chelmsford Private Hospital.

It is not common to see a conduct matter find its way as far as a State appellate court, but that was the case in South Australia where a conduct matter came before the South Australian Court of Appeal. The issue was the period of disqualification imposed on an optometrist. Bhoola v Optometry Board of...

The University of Western Australia Law Review has just published a special edition on causation in the law. (2022) 49 UWALR 1. This is the link. https://www.able.uwa.edu.au/centres/uwalr/issues/2022-volume-49,-issue-1 The 15 articles include discussions of: Decision causation (with an article by Henry Cooney on Causation and Contributory Negligence). Causation, science and the law (including an...

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union v Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 1 (on AUSTLII). ZG Operations Australia Pty Ltd v Jamsek [2022] HCA 2 (on AUSTLII). The first two decisions of the High Court for 2022 focused on determining whether certain individuals were employees or contractors under the Fair Work Act 2009...