Australian Bank Fees Class Action

On 6 September 2012 the High Court of Australia in Andrews v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (2012) delivered a decision which has given the green light for consumers to proceed against Australia's banks in the largest ever class action in Australia.

The decision was handed down in relation to claims against the ANZ Bank challenging the legality of certain fees (known as exception fees) charged by ANZ over the past six years. A key question is whether the charges are penalties or whether they relate to services.

The proceedings are part of a wider class action in which separate proceedings raising similar claims have been commenced against 7 other Australian banks with the possibility that 4 further banks will be drawn in. The class actions have been launched on behalf of about 160,000 customers, with claims estimated at over $200m. The class action is being funded by litigation funders IMF (Australia) Ltd.