Settlement

A judge has approved a $550 million settlement in a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme but has halved a funder’s payout to $35 million, despite arguments that it was unprecedented to award a single digit percentage commission. 

The funder that backed a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme, which settled for a record $548.5 million, is seeking a $71 million commission, but a contradictor has told the court a $23 million cut will suffice.

RSPCA Queensland has entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman after underpaying 1,008 staff approximately $4.3 million between February 2017 and September 2023.

SkyCity has agreed to pay a $21 million fine in an agreement with the South Australian gambling authority following an inquiry by former Supreme Court Justice Brian Martin which found historical compliance and governance failures.

HSBC has agreed to pay a $35 million penalty in ASIC proceedings after it admitted to serious failures in protecting customers from scams, but a judge is questioning whether the penalty is high enough. 

ARN Media has reached a $12 million settlement with radio personality Kyle Sandilands, who sued the network over its decision to scrap his 10-year $100 million contract following an on-air fight with co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson.

Passengers in a lawsuit against Qatar Airways over a 2020 strip search at Doha International Airport have reached a settlement with the airline and airport operator MATAR.

A judge has approved a $67 million settlement in a class action against QSuper but has trimmed the payout for the litigation funder, criticising it for a "brazen and unjustified" deduction that was dropped during the hearing.

Two former JLL executives have resolved defamation proceedings against the publisher of The Australian over articles that claimed they went to strip clubs and sent lewd messages to an in-house WhatsApp group. 

Zip Co has reached an agreement to acquire the 'Zip' trade mark from non-bank lender Firstmac, after the High Court rejected its honest concurrent use defence last week.