Skip to main content
Article
Access to Justice and the Evolution of Class Action Litigation in Australia
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
  • Camille Cameron, Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law
  • Bernard Murphy
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2006
Keywords
  • class action,
  • litigation,
  • legislative regimes,
  • Australia,
  • jurisprudence,
  • practice,
  • law reform
Disciplines
Abstract

The federal and Victorian class action regimes are intended to facilitate aggregation of multiple claims. Aggregation can improve efficiency by combining similar claims and can enhance access to justice by providing a mechanism to litigate small claims. This article considers whether these efficiency and access aims are being achieved. The authors argue that whilst some developments in class action jurisprudence have been consistent with these legislative aims, other have not. Several features of Australian class action jurisprudence and practice have hampered the healthy development of the legislative regimes, including adverse costs orders, unclear threshold requirements, evasive posturing and unresolved class communication issues. Finally, having identified these difficulties, the authors propose reform possibilities and priorities.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Publication Abbreviation
Melbourne U L Rev
Citation Information
Bernard Murphy & Camille Cameron, "Access to Justice and the Evolution of Class Action Litigation in Australia" (2006) 30:2 Melbourne U L Rev 399.