Australian Red Cross Society (New South Wales Division) v PD

The Australian Red Cross Society (New South Wales Division) sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Court of Appeal. The dispute concerned the supply of blood for medical purposes, involving the interests of blood donors, patients, the Red Cross, and other litigants.

The primary legal issues before the High Court were the decisive effect given by the Court of Appeal to certain legislation and the nature of the orders made by that court. The applicant argued that the legislation relied upon by the Court of Appeal was not in force at the time of the events in question and therefore had no application to the circumstances of the litigation. Furthermore, the applicant contended that even if the legislation had been in force, it would not have been applicable to the relevant issues.

The applicant submitted that the Court of Appeal had misconstrued the legislation, which, if properly understood, would have supported confidentiality rather than disclosure. The applicant also highlighted that the decisive point of legislation was not raised as a ground of appeal by the applicant in the Court of Appeal, nor was it included in their submissions, but was instead raised by the court itself. The applicant suggested that the court may have paid undue attention to this point due to its own discovery of it.