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In a rare moment for the Supreme Court of Victoria, three separate class actions against technology company Nuix, steel producer Arrium, and betting agency Sportsbet have started on the same day.
Chief Justice Richard Niall said it was “great to see” the three class actions against Nuix, Arrium, and Sportsbet starting on the same day, “something no one can remember seeing before”.
Each is represented by one or two lead plaintiffs, but can include anywhere between a handful and a few million affected people.
“Class actions involve a considerable amount of work for the court and the judicial officers involved,” Chief Justice Niall said.
“A preliminary argument in the Arrium action progressed to the High Court, while the Nuix matter started out as three separate class actions.”
The court is “working hard to resolve and determine these cases”, he added.
The class action against Sportsbet was brought on behalf of persons who placed one or more bets using its “Fast code service” between 24 December 2018 and 24 December 2024, and lost more money than they won.
The group members have alleged that Sportsbet contravened the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth) (IGA) by providing an in-play betting service by a means that was not a telephone betting service.
These contracts were allegedly void or breached, and Sportsbet engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law by allegedly representing that the Fast Code service was lawfully provided.
Appearing before Justice Robert Craig on Monday (3 August) morning, counsel for the class action said the next three or four days would likely be about “getting to the bottom” of factual issues, but ultimately their case would hinge on “the question of statutory construction”.
“One way to understand the controversy is, at the end of the opening, for Your Honour to be satisfied that you understand factually and as a level of construction where we’re joining issue,” the counsel said.
Plaintiffs in the Nuix class action have alleged its revenue forecasts in the prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO) issued on 18 November 2020 contained omissions and statements that were misleading or deceptive.
It also alleged that director and representative Daniel Phillips is liable.
As a result of these contraventions, the Nuix class action alleged the share price was inflated between 18 November 2020 and 19 June 2021.
Meanwhile, four former directors of iron ore miner and steel producer Arrium and its auditors at KPMG were accused of misleading or deceptive statements in its public financial results and a failure to disclose material impairments of its assets, which allegedly inflated its share price.
