Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd v Viksne

In the New South Wales Court of Appeal, Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd (the appellant) appealed decisions concerning proceedings commenced against a deregistered company, which was subsequently reinstated. The primary dispute revolved around whether the reinstatement of the company's registration validated the initial commencement of proceedings against it, particularly in the context of claims for damages for non-economic loss arising from dust diseases.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the reinstatement of a company's registration under section 601AH(2) of the *Corporations Act 2001* (Cth) had the retrospective effect of validating proceedings that had been commenced against the company at a time when it was deregistered. This was crucial for determining whether the proceedings were deemed to have been validly commenced and pending at the time of the plaintiff's death, for the purposes of section 12B of the *Dust Diseases Tribunal Act 1989* (NSW).

The Court of Appeal considered the operation of section 601AH(5) of the *Corporations Act 2001*, which states that the registration of a company is taken to be revoked from the date of its deregistration. Their Honours concluded that the reinstatement of registration under section 601AH(2) did not operate retrospectively to validate proceedings that were a nullity at the time they were commenced. Consequently, the proceedings were not deemed to have been validly commenced and pending at the time of the plaintiff's death.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the primary judge's order be set aside in two of the proceedings and dismissed the appeals in those matters, ordering the appellant to pay the respondent's costs. In a third proceeding, the appeal was dismissed with costs. In several other related proceedings, the summons seeking leave to appeal were also dismissed.