Shareholder Class Actions Judgments in 2022-Iluka Resources and Worley

This article explains developments to the Australian shareholder class action landscape following two important court decisions in 2022, namely: the Iluka class action (Bonham v Iluka Resources Ltd) and the Full Court of the Federal Court's judgment upholding the applicant's appeal in the Worley class action (Crowley v Worley Ltd). These class actions were significant as very few shareholder class actions have proceeded to judgment and the latter was the first appellate judgment in a shareholder class action. The judgments provide guidance as to the need for robust internal processes for preparing forecasts and issuing guidance, the use of disclaimers, the use of principles of corporate attribution so that the company is not limited to the board, and may include officers, which in turn necessitates the ascertainment of the knowledge of different officers (both actual and constructive) at different times. The article also touches on the legislative reforms to the continuous disclosure regime effected by the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No 1) Act 2021 (Cth) and its interaction with the above judgments.