COMPENSATION (LAW) – AUSTRALIA

Super funds told to help bailout plan

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 10-Dec-25

The federal government will require the superannuation sector to contribute to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort for the first time. The government intends to impose a ‘special levy’ on the super industry to help cover the scheme’s expected funding shortfall of $47.3m for the current financial year. Banks, financial advisers and stockbrokers are amongst the financial services providers that usually fund the CSLR via a levy. There has been ongoing concern about the viability of the CSLR since it was established to compensate refund victims of financial misconduct in cases where the provider is insolvent or otherwise lacks the capacity to pay.

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BHP Christmas work order penalty

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 12-Nov-25

The Federal Court has ordered BHP’s Operation Services labour firm to compensate 85 miners who were directed to work at the Daunia coal mine in Queensland on Christmas Day and Boxing Day in 2019. Operation Services will be required to pay a total of $83,700 in compensation, plus a penalty of $15,000. The Mining and Energy Union’s Queensland president Mitch Hughes says the workers had been directed to work on the public holidays with no consultation or agreement. The workers will be each be paid between $800 and $2,400 each. BHP sold the Daunia mine to Whitehaven Coal in 2024.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, OPERATION SERVICES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC

Sacked Qantas workers’ record $120m payout

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 18-Dec-24

Qantas has agreed to pay $120m in compensation to 1,683 ground handling workers whose jobs were outsourcd in 2020. The Transport Workers Union’s national secretary Michael Kaine has welcomed the deal; he says that "delivering justice" to the affected workers is "the first step in turning Qantas around". Economic and non-economic losses will be considered in determining each worker’s share of the payout. Qantas had argued that the outsourcing was necessary in response to the pandemic, but Federal Court ruled that the workers had been illegally sacked to prevent them from exercising their workplace right to take industrial action.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NACC for Higgins compo deal truth

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Original article by Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Apr-24

Former NSW judge Anthony Whealy says the $2.445m compensation payout to alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins should be investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Healy says the NACC could not "ignore altogether" the findings of Federal Court judge Michael Lee in Bruce Lehrmann’s failed defamation case against the Ten Network; Justice Lee found that Higgins had told a number of untruths regarding the alleged incident at Parliament House in March 2019. Former Western Australian judge Kenneth Martin in turn says Justice Lee’s findings mean that the federal government may be able to seek to recover the payout to the former Liberal staffer.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Surprise support for airline compo scheme

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 : 30-Jan-24

Emirates president Tim Clark has expressed support for compensating Australian airline passengers for flight delays or cancellations. A compensation scheme for travellers is among the options that will be considered in the federal government’s aviation white paper. Clark contends that airlines should be held to account for putting their own financial interests ahead of those of their passengers. However, he cautions that the government must consult with the aviation industry regarding any such scheme.

CORPORATES
EMIRATES AIRLINES

Freed immigration detainee sues Australian government for damages for alleged false imprisonment

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Jan-24

A stateless Kurdish man is suing Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for false imprisonment, following his release from immigration detention after the High Court ruled indefinite detention was illegal. Should his case prove successful, it could lead to the 149 people released as a result of the ruling to sue the government for what could be hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation; the man in question was born in Iran and arrived with his mother by boat at Christmas Island aged 16.

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Secret compo: Higgins’ 40 years of lost wages

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Original article by Janet Albrechtsen, Ellie Dudley, Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 15-Jun-23

Details of the former Coalition government’s settlement with Brittany Higgins’ remain confidential, although some media reports have sugggested that her payout was up to $3m. Higgins’ draft statement of claim shows that she had sought more than $2.5m in compensation. The document stated that she had been diagnosed as medically unfit for ­employment and had little prospect of future employment. She was therefore seeking damages for economic loss, including 40 years of foregone income, as well as the loss of a potential future career in politics. Chantille Khoury from Law Partners Personal Injury Lawyers says Higgins’ payout seems "unusually high". Higgins has held several jobs since her alleged rape at Parliament House, including media adviser for the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.

CORPORATES
LAW PARTNERS PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS

State coal power to reap $500m-plus

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Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Jan-23

Households and small businesses will receive some $1.5bn in price relief via the federal government’s energy plan, which will cap gas and coal prices. Coal-fired power generators will in turn be entitled to compensation over the decision to cap coal prices at $125 per tonne. It has been estimated that coal-fired power stations in New South Wales could receive about $500m in compensation, with their Queensland counterparts could potentially be entitled to $750m in compensation. Independent senator David Pocock has criticised the government in the wake of revelations that mining company Rio Tinto and its partners could receive around $450m in compensation because they own the Gladstone power station.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Traditional owners compare FMG damage to Juukan Gorge

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 12-Oct-22

Fortescue Metals Group faces a compensation claim from the Yindjibarndi people over the construction of its Solomon iron ore hub in the Pilbara. The compensation claim is based on a Federal Court ruling that part of the Solomon hub was built without the permission of the traditional owners. Fortescue has been accused of destroying sacred and significant sites, and the Yindjibarndi’s compensation claim will be based on factors such as cultural loss, pain and suffering, and economic loss. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has likened the cultural significance of the traditional owners’ losses to Rio Tinto’s destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

When it comes to compensation payouts, NAB’s $204m leads the pack

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Feb-20

Data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission shows that National Australia Bank customers have now received $203.8m in compensation for poor financial advice and services that were not provided. The Commonwealth Bank in turn has paid out $174.2m, ahead of AMP ($167.2m), Westpac ($106.4m), the ANZ Bank ($95.6m) and Macquarie Group ($2.6m).

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG