• Lawyers in Sydney
• Lawyers in Melbourne
• Lawyers in Brisbane
• Lawyers in Perth
• Family lawyers
• Employment lawyers
• Criminal lawyers
• Wills and estates lawyers
• Find a lawyer

1. The proceedings be dismissed under r 13.4(1) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR)

2. Pursuant to r 14.28 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), the Statement of Claim filed by the Plaintiff on 10 November 2025 (served 6 February 2026) be struck out in whole, or alternatively in part, on the basis it:

(a) discloses no reasonable cause of action,

(b) is ambiguous, vague or unintelligible,

(c) is frivolous or vexatious,

(d) has a tendency to prejudice, embarrass or delay the fair trial of the proceedings.

3. Further or alternatively, pursuant to s 318 of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW), the Statement of Claim be struck out on the basis it is materially different from the proposed statement of claim served with the pre-filing statement and has been filed without leave.

4. Further or alternatively, the Plaintiff file and serve an Amended Statement of Claim within 21 days which:

(a) pleads material facts only and not evidence, argument or conclusions,

(b) identifies with precision the cause or causes of action relied upon,

(c) identifies against whom relief is sought and the alleged duty owed by each,

(d) pleads breach and causation for each alleged injury,

(e) pleads any alleged psychological injury by reference to a recognised psychiatric diagnosis and a pleaded causal pathway, mechanism of injury, foreseeability and causation,

(f) pleads loss and damage consistently with the applicable statutory scheme.

5. If the plaintiff fails to comply with Orders 3 and 4, the proceedings be struck out under r 14.28(1) of the UCPR, without further order.

6. Further and alternatively, pursuant to s 140 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) and UCPR Part 28, the proceedings be transferred to the District Court of New South Wales.

7. The Plaintiff pay the Defendant’s costs of and incidental to this Notice of Motion, as agreed or assessed.

8. Such further or other orders as the Court considers appropriate.

2. The matter came before Justice Campbell who on 16 June 2026 made the following orders:

1. Pursuant to r 14.28 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), the Statement of Claim (filed 10 November 2025) be struck out on the ground that it discloses no reasonable cause of action;

2. Declare that the Proposed Amended Statement of Claim, appearing in Annexure A to the Affidavit of Ms Naomi Tancred’s Affidavit affirmed on 15 June 2026, does not comply with the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) and, if filed, would be liable to be struck out;

3. The plaintiff is directed to file and serve an Amended Statement of Claim conforming to Parts 14 and 15 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) on or before 16 September 2026;

4. The proceedings be listed for Directions before the Common Law Duty Judge on 23 September 2026;

5. Prayers 1, 3 and 6 of the Defendant’s Notice of Motion filed on 17 February 2026 be stood over for Mention before the Common Law Duty Judge on 23 September 2026;

6. The question of costs be reserved.

3. It is plain from his Honour’s reasons that his Honour spent some time explaining to the plaintiff the requirements for pleadings in this Court. The plaintiff filed an amended statement of claim on 8 September 2026.

4. The amended statement of claim claims $50 million. The pleading is a series of events, with very little information for how or why the defendant is said to be liable for the plaintiff’s alleged losses in connection with them.

5. The amended statement of claim is not materially different in form, substance or structure from the draft amended statement of claim that was the subject of Order 2 by Campbell J on 16 June 2026. The amended statement of claim repeats a paragraph, which his Honour singled out as a paragraph which did not comply with the rules, that being paragraph 57.

6. Justice Campbell’s observations about the draft amended statement of claim apply equally to the amended statement of claim as filed: “[m]uch of what is in the proposed amended statement of claim is evidence, argument or conclusions which are impermissible in the pleading. The pleading does not identify with precision the causes of action relied upon.”

7. The amended statement of claim does not identify the legal basis for relief. The amended statement of claim does not include the necessary particulars of material facts as required by Part 15, and as specifically adverted to by Campbell J on the last occasion.

8. There is no pleading of any breach of any common law or statutory duty, nor do the pleadings identify the facts on the basis of which it is contended that any breach of a duty caused damage.

9. The pleading does not enable the Court to determine how damages might be quantified, let alone how they support a claim for $50 million.

10. When I asked the plaintiff about the absence of a pleading of a breach of duty, he referred to an alleged breach of a privacy obligation. Not only is there no pleaded breach of legal duty in relation to privacy, but the right to recover damages and the quantification of such damages from such a breach of a privacy obligation is not disclosed in the amended statement of claim.

11. I am satisfied that it would not be fair to the defendant to permit the claim to proceed on the basis of the amended statement of claim. I am also satisfied that the statement of claim should be struck out, in light of Order 2 made by Justice Campbell on the last occasion.

12. Accordingly, I make the following orders:

13. Strike out the amended statement of claim filed 8 September 2026.

14. The plaintiff is to serve on the defendant a draft further amended statement of claim by 23 December 2026.

15. Stand the matter over to the Common Law Duty Judge on 3 February 2027 for consideration of whether the plaintiff should be granted leave to file a further amended statement of claim and for consideration of prayers 1,3 and 6 of the defendant’s notice of motion filed 17 February 2026.

16. By 27 January 2027, direct the defendant to file and serve a bundle containing:

(a) any draft further amended statement of claim served by the plaintiff in accordance with Order 2; (b) any other material on which the defendant relies in support of prayers 1,3 or 6 of its notice of motion; (c) a brief chronology; and (d) written submissions that are to be no more than 4 pages in length.

5. Direct the defendant to serve on the plaintiff by email to the address stated on the amended statement of claim, the reasons of Campbell J dated 16 June 2026 within 7 days.
6. Direct the defendant to serve on the plaintiff by email to the address stated on the amended statement of claim, the reasons of the Court today within 7 days of those reasons being provided to the defendant’s solicitor.
7. Grant liberty to approach the Chambers of Justice Emmett in respect of either set of reasons by email to the Associate copying the other party.
8. Costs are reserved.

**********