Insights

New era for the costing of County Court and Supreme Court claims

Introduction This insight reports on the recommendations from the ‘Report on Litigious Costs’ (the Report) recently released by the Supreme Court and County Court of Victoria (the Courts) [1]. The Report considers whether it is  appropriate for the Supreme and County Courts to continue to use the current Scale based approach in fixing litigious costs, […]

A change of heart on indemnity | a landmark High Court decision for insurers

Allianz Australia Insurance Limited v Delor Vue Apartments CTS 39788 [2022] HCA 38 Key takeaways The High Court has provided important guidance regarding the circumstances in which an insurer can depart from earlier representations made regarding the availability of cover. The duty of utmost good faith does not always prevent an insurer from retracting an […]

Collaborative arrangements between medical practitioners and eligible nurse practitioners and eligible midwives

The Health Insurance Act 1973 and the Health Insurance Regulations 2018 (Regulations) permit eligible midwives and eligible nurse practitioners to provide some services that are funded through the Medicare Benefits Schedule and prescribe certain medications subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme provided they meet the relevant skills and qualifications criteria. In order to provide these […]

High Court of Australia grants application for special leave to appeal a decision to permanently stay proceedings involving historical child sexual abuse

Warning: This Case Note discusses serious sexual and physical abuse. We recently published a Case Note about the Queensland Supreme Court decision of Willmot v State of Queensland [2022] QSC 167, which outlined when a permanent stay should be granted in a case involving allegations of historical sexual and physical abuse that were said to […]

Insurer permitted to invoke professional liability exclusion clause for Queensland flooding class action

SunWater Limited v Liberty Mutual Insurance Company [2022] NSWCA 273 Key takeaways Professional liability exclusions are not confined to claims brought by the rec mipient of the professional service or advice. A court may construe the professional liability exclusion more stringently where the insured can seek refuge under another policy. There are no special rules […]

Victoria Health Services: Are you prepared for the Statutory Duty of Candour?

On 30 November 2022, the Health Legislation Amendment (Quality and Safety) Act 2022 (Vic) will come into effect. This legislation amends the Health Services Act 1988 (Vic) [1] (Act) to impose new legal obligations on relevant Victorian Health services, requiring them to provide a Statutory Duty of Candour to any patient who has suffered a […]

Pursuing personal advantage: an age old story

Hakea Holdings Pty Ltd v McGrath (No 2) [2022] FCA 995 This case considers the liability of directors who pursue their own personal interest at the expense of the company and the impact of such conduct on coverage under D&O insurance policies. It also considers what constitutes a ‘Claim’ and a ‘circumstance’ under a common […]

Agreement to mediate… are you certain?

Metropolitan Health Service v Sturm [2022] WASC 316 Key takeaways A contractual dispute resolution clause may be unenforceable for uncertainty if the clause does not set out all necessary terms for the conduct of a preferred dispute resolution process. Only the defined parties to a contract can be bound by a dispute resolution clause. Background […]

New regulations are now in force for all health practitioners and organisations in NSW

If you operate a health service, or are a health practitioner working in NSW, you need to be aware of a regulation that came into effect on 1 September 2022 being the Public Health Regulation 2022. The regulation sets out prescriptive obligations for all health practitioners and health organisations, be they public or private. For […]

Regulation of Education and Care Providers: the Department of Communities in WA takes a stricter approach to compliance actions

Key takeaways The Education and Care Regulatory Unit of the Department of Communities (Department) is displaying a stricter approach in implementing compliance actions. Specifically, the Department is seeking penalties under both sections 165(1) and 167(1) of the Education and Care Services National Law (WA) Act 2012 (National Law) in compliance actions involving inadequate supervision and […]

Willmot v State of Queensland [2022] QSC 167

Warning: This Case Note discusses serious sexual and physical abuse. In its recent decision of Willmot v State of Queensland,[1] the Supreme Court considered whether a permanent stay should be granted in a case involving allegations of historical sexual and physical abuse that were said to have occurred between 1957 and 1967. Accepting that her […]

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