Australia has the second most active class action jurisdiction in the world. A highly active litigation funding market, a plaintiff-friendly regulatory regime and courts that have consistently applied representative procedures broadly combine to make class actions a permanent and serious source of risk for domestic and international companies, and for government at Federal, State and Territory levels.
Class actions are among the most consequential proceedings a company can face. The financial exposure is often large. The reputational consequences may exceed it. Management distraction, disclosure obligations, parallel regulatory scrutiny and the dynamics of litigation funding make these proceedings difficult to navigate without experienced defence counsel from the outset.
Thomsons defends corporate defendants, boards, insurers and litigation funders across the full lifecycle of representative proceedings from the moment a claim is threatened through to settlement, court approval and distribution. We have advised on more than 50 filed and threatened Australian class actions, including multi-jurisdictional proceedings.
We know how plaintiff firms and litigation funders build, fund and run class actions. That knowledge informs every decision we make in defence.
Areas of expertise
Effective class action defence is built before the proceedings are filed. We develop strategy through early, rigorous issue analysis, identifying the strongest grounds to challenge representative standing, narrow the class definition, attack the pleadings and limit exposure before the litigation trajectory is fixed.
We manage interlocutory steps with precision, coordinate evidence and expert testimony, and structure common issues trials to control cost and maintain strategic advantage throughout. Claims assessment and exposure modelling run in parallel: we evaluate asserted and potential claims, model liability and damages, and deploy targeted applications (to narrow issues, exclude classes or seek summary disposition) at the earliest stage.
We act in class actions across every major Australian court and jurisdiction. Our matters include some of the largest and most complex representative proceedings on foot in Australia. Among them Australia's largest-ever class action settlement, the first class action filed in the Western Australian Supreme Court under its new procedures (BGC Group), Australia's first automotive consumer class action on fuel efficiency claims (Mitsubishi Motors), and the successful defence and discontinuance of a nine-figure securities class action (Nine Entertainment).
We act for listed companies, directors, officers and professional advisers in class actions arising from alleged continuous disclosure failures, misleading conduct and market manipulation.
Securities class actions in Australia involve significant procedural complexity, a competitive and well-resourced plaintiff field, and concurrent regulatory scrutiny from ASIC. We manage all of it: advising on the interaction between representative proceedings and parallel ASIC investigations, on the disclosure obligations that arise once proceedings are commenced or threatened, and on pleading and procedural strategy throughout.
Litigation funders are sophisticated commercial actors with their own objectives. Understanding how they think, and where their interests diverge from a defendant's, is essential to effective class action defence.
We manage insurance coverage issues, handle notifications and contribution strategies, and negotiate with funders on funding terms, governance structures and litigation objectives. We understand the commercial dynamics that drive funder decision-making at each stage of proceedings. Where those dynamics create leverage for defendants, we use it.
Settlement is a strategic decision, not a default. We advise on timing, structure and risk with that clearly in view: designing and executing settlement frameworks, negotiating class-wide terms, managing court approval processes and implementing distribution schemes.
Court approval of class action settlements in Australia involves a substantive merits review. The process requires careful preparation and experienced management. We approach it to achieve outcomes that protect the defendant's long-term position, including on contribution, indemnity and reputational exposure.
Representative proceedings increasingly involve multiple defendants, parallel jurisdictions and proceedings commenced offshore in coordination with Australian litigation. These require unified command across all fronts.
We advise on coordinating co-defendants, managing common issues trials and developing procedural strategies across Federal and State jurisdictions. Where proceedings run simultaneously across multiple jurisdictions, including offshore, we coordinate with international counsel to ensure exposure and strategy are managed consistently.
Our class action matters span proceedings in the Federal Court and in the Supreme Courts of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. Cross-border dimensions in our current matters extend to the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
We defend manufacturers, distributors, importers and retailers in class actions arising from alleged product defects, misleading representations and failures to warn.
Our experience covers a wide range of industries and product categories: automotive, pharmaceutical, medical devices, industrial and agricultural equipment, chemicals, building materials, medtech and consumer goods and services more broadly. We act across the full lifecycle of product liability class actions: from pre-litigation strategy and regulator engagement through to pleading challenges, expert evidence coordination and resolution. Where claims are technically complex (involving foreign-language documentary evidence, cross-border supply chains or specialist scientific or engineering expert evidence), we have the depth and international coordination capability to manage them.
The risk of representative proceedings founded on alleged ESG and climate disclosure failures is real and increasing. As mandatory climate reporting requirements take effect across Australian listed entities, the pathway from alleged disclosure deficiency to class action is shortening.
We defend claims arising from alleged greenwashing, misleading climate disclosures, environmental damage and failure to comply with sustainability reporting obligations. We advise on exposure assessment, disclosure strategy and defence in this area where the legal framework continues to develop and the reputational consequences of getting it wrong can be disproportionate to the legal ones.
As the volume and scale of cyber incidents increases, representative proceedings have become an established response. Data breach class actions frequently run alongside regulatory investigations by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, requiring coordinated management across both fronts from the outset.
We defend organisations facing class actions arising from data breaches and alleged failures to protect personal information. We advise on response strategy from the moment an incident is identified, through notification obligations and regulatory engagement to the litigation that follows.
Government defendants face a distinct set of considerations in representative proceedings. Statutory constraints, public interest dimensions, policy exposure and the interaction between litigation and ongoing regulatory or legislative functions require careful management alongside conventional class action defence.
We act for Federal, State and Territory agencies and instrumentalities facing representative proceedings. Our experience includes contractual disputes, service delivery failures, and claims arising from the administration of government programs. We understand the constraints that government defendants operate within and advise accordingly.
Class actions founded on alleged cartel conduct, price-fixing, market manipulation and other contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 present particular challenges. The legal framework is complex. The exposure is often very large. Proceedings regularly run alongside ACCC investigations or criminal cartel enforcement, requiring careful coordination of strategy across both fronts from the outset.
We advise on defence strategy, pleading challenges, exposure modelling and settlement. We manage the relationship between class action proceedings and concurrent regulatory processes throughout.
Employment and franchise class actions involve large and diffuse plaintiff groups, complex damages calculations, and significant reputational exposure. The plaintiff field in this area is active, well-resourced and experienced at constructing large-scale representative claims from systemic conduct allegations.
We defend employers, franchisors and franchisees in representative proceedings arising from alleged underpayment, wage theft, workplace discrimination and franchise agreement disputes. We advise on early resolution where it serves the client's interests, and on full defence where it does not.
Representative proceedings against corporate defendants frequently coincide with ASIC or ACCC investigations or enforcement action. The two fronts are legally distinct but practically intertwined, and managing them without discipline creates exposure on both.
The interaction raises complex issues: disclosure obligations, document management, privilege, witness strategy and the sequencing of engagement with regulators and plaintiff lawyers. Getting that sequencing wrong has consequences that extend well beyond the immediate proceedings.
We advise defendants navigating both simultaneously, coordinating class action defence with regulatory response to ensure that the strategy on each front is consistent, disciplined and does not compromise the other.
Our experience
Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd – Securities class action and ASIC scrutiny
Acted for Nine Entertainment and a senior journalist in the successful defence of a securities class action in the Supreme Court of Queensland, brought for at least A$400 million plus exemplary damages arising from the collapse of Blue Sky Alternative Investments. Claims alleged tortious conspiracy, insider trading, misleading and deceptive conduct and statutory contraventions. Following strategic pleading challenges and interlocutory applications, the plaintiff discontinued all claims against our clients with costs. Nine and its journalist are out of the proceedings entirely. The Blue Sky securities class action ran alongside regulatory scrutiny involving ASIC as a named defendant in the same proceedings, requiring careful management of the interaction between our client's position and the regulatory dimension of the litigation.
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation – Fuel efficiency class action (A$1 billion+)
Defending Mitsubishi in a consumer class action in the Federal Court alleging misleading fuel consumption and emissions representations for its Triton utility vehicles. The first class action of its kind in Australia relating to fuel consumption testing results. The case involves voluminous technical documentary evidence in Japanese requiring complex cross-border discovery. Thomsons 's successful appeal to the High Court in a related matter required the plaintiff to reframe its case entirely.
BGC Group – Building class action
Defending BGC Group entities in the first class action filed in the Western Australian Supreme Court under its new procedures. The plaintiff class alleges losses from delays and price increases affecting approximately 7,500 home constructions between 2019 and 2024, including significant COVID-related impacts. The matter raises novel questions on the effect of WA border closures and COVID laws on damages liability.
Leighton Holdings (CIMIC) – Securities class action
Acted in the defence of a shareholder class action arising from a profit downgrade related to major infrastructure projects.
QBE Insurance – Securities class action
Defending QBE in a Federal Court securities class action following a profit downgrade, including opposing a common fund litigation funding order and managing complex procedural issues.
Defending Mercer Superannuation, a A$70 billion fund and one of Australia's largest superannuation entities, in Federal Court proceedings initiated by ASIC following an investigation into compliance with Corporations Act breach-reporting obligations and broader statutory licence conditions. Our work includes responding to mandatory information requests, preparing fact and penalty submissions for ASIC's Enforcement Committee, and providing comprehensive briefings to Mercer's Board, C-Suite and legal teams across Australian and US jurisdictions.