Debrossard v AB Commission [2016] NSWDC 109

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Debrossard v AB Commission [2016] NSWDC 109 Hearing dates: 25 January; 24 February; 11, 12 and 13 May 2016 Date of orders: 16 May 2016 Decision date: 16 May 2016 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: P Taylor SC DCJ Decision: (1) Strike out paragraph 4 of the Amended Statement of Claim. (2) Strike out the reference to defamation on page 1 of the Amended Statement of Claim under the heading "TYPE OF CLAIM". (3) Order the plaintiff to provide particulars of any damage including any mental or psychiatric damage by a date to be fixed by the Judicial Registrar. (4) Otherwise dismiss the defendants' notices of motion. (5) Order the recoverable costs of the plaintiff as a self-represented litigant, not including any time-based costs, be the plaintiff's costs in the proceedings. (6) Stay the entry of the costs order for 2 weeks. (7) Make a non-publication order under s 7 of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 by ordering that there be no publication of any matter that would lead to the identification of any party in the proceedings on the grounds that it is necessary to prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice because the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia have preserved the confidentiality of the parties' names under s 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 by using pseudonyms in published judgments involving the plaintiff, and to do otherwise would operate to defeat the purpose of s 121, the use by those courts of pseudonyms and the purpose of these proceedings. (8) Grant liberty to any party to apply to me in respect of the costs order and the non-publication order within 14 days. (9) List the matter for directions on Monday, 30 May 2016 at 9.30am before the Judicial Registrar. (10) Note that the defendants have no objection to the plaintiff appearing by phone on 30 May 2016. Catchwords: PROCEDURE – summary dismissal – strike out – breach of publication order – breach of privacy – negligence – breach of confidence – breach of statutory duty – defamation – self-represented litigant Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002, s 31, s 32 Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010, s 7, s 8 Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), s 121 National Privacy Principles Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), s 25, s 25A, s 89, s 90, s 93, Pt VIII Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, r 13.4, r 14.28, r 14.30 Cases Cited: Crimmins v Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee (1999) 200 CLR 1; [1999] HCA 59 Day v Lynn [2003] FCA 879 Debrossard & Carey & Ors [2014] FCCA 2915 Everett v Neale [2012] NSWDC 73 Gao v Federal Privacy Commissioner [2002] FCA 823 General Steel Industries Inc v Commissioner for Railways (NSW) (1964) 112 CLR 125 Hinchcliffe v Commissioner of Police of the Australian Federal Police [2001] FCA 1747 Ibarcena v Templar [1999] FCA 900 Marshall v Prescott [2015] NSWCA 110 Maynes v Casey [2011] NSWCA 156 New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation v Quinn [2016] NSWDC 27 O'Brien v Bank of Western Australia Ltd [2013] NSWCA 71 Preston v Commissioner for Fair Trading [2011] NSWCA 40 Simmons v Protective Commissioner (NSW) [2012] NSWSC 455 Wardley Australia Ltd v State of Western Australia (Rothwells Loan case) (1992) 109 ALR 247 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Ms Debrossard (plaintiff) AB Commission (first defendant) Mr Merril (second defendant) Ms Carey (third defendant) Ms Norman of Ms Norman & Co (fourth defendant) Representation: Counsel: Ms T Berberian (first, second and third defendants) Ms M Avenell (fourth defendant)