A Federal Court of Australia judge has questioned the more than $10 million bill over registering thousands of workers impacted in the Western Australian stolen wages case.
A Federal Court of Australia judge has questioned the more than $10 million bill over registering thousands of workers impacted in the Western Australian stolen wages case.
Gooniyandi man Mervyn Street sued the state in the Federal Court in 2020, in a class action representing thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers in Western Australia from 1936 to 1972.
Represented by Shine Lawyers, Mr Street started the legal action on behalf of workers and surviving relatives of the workers affected by law that enabled employeers to hold 75 per cent of the wages of Aboriginal people.
The legislation was in effect until 1972.
In November 2023, the state government announced it would pay up to $180.4 million to eligible Aboriginal workers or their surviving spouses and children, with a separate $15.4 million for some of the applicant’s legal costs, to settle the class action.
The settlement, including the exact amount to be received by each person, is subject to approval by the Federal Court of Australia.
The initial deadline for the registration process to identify eligible claimants was June 30 with an extension granted until the end of September.
But at a court hearing today, Federal Court judge Bernard Murphy described the legal cost over the registration process was a global amount that was looking unreasonable.
Justice Murphy told the court Shine Lawyers had calculated about $11 million over work done during registration.
"This is a complex legislation, the registration process is not the complex part," he said.
"It’s registration work – it’s done by clerks. Why do you need to be a lawyer to take registration details?
"How can it be possibly cost $10 million to register 15,000 people?"
Barrister William Edwards, on behalf of Mr Street, told the court the work was not as easy as the judge referenced, and included rectifying errors and duplicates in the registrations.
"This is not just taking registration details. This is talking to a large cohort of people that often has a story to tell," he said.
"I don’t like what the market is, I wouldn’t be able to pay myself…but what [the affidavit] is saying is the rates for paralegals and clerks are in that range."
In November, the state government announced it would pay $16,500 in respect of each eligible claimant into an administered fund, up to a total of $165 million.
The maximum would only be paid if there are 10,000 or more eligible claimants.