Lessons from Australia on class action reform in New Zealand

Class action regimes have been operating in Australia for over 26 years. Over this significant period, many lessons have been learnt with respect to the virtues and shortfalls of this type of litigation. Having an accurate understanding of the Australian experience with class actions will accordingly be of great benefit to the New Zealand Law Commission and, subsequently, the New Zealand Government as they consider whether New Zealand should also introduce a legislative class action regime and, if so, what should be its main features. The aim of this article is to facilitate this important process by providing an evaluation of the first 26 years of class action litigation in Australia.