Australia has a long history of class action litigation. Outside
of the United States, Australia has one of the most active class
action markets globally.
It is 25 years since the introduction of the class action regime
in the Federal Court of Australia. Since its introduction, the
class action regime has been used as a forum for a range of claims,
including product liability claims, environmental claims,
shareholder claims, complex financial product claims, investor
claims and consumer claims.
A new type of product claim is now emerging in the Australian
class action market, and one which has been part of the US class
action landscape for many years now. Unlike previous product class
actions where the safety of the product was typically in issue, the
new product claims focus on statements or representations made in
the marketing of the product and whether or not the statements or
representations contravene the misleading & deceptive conduct
provisions of the
