bCode Pty Ltd (in liq) v Holford

The parties in this case were bCode Pty Ltd, in liquidation, and Troy Holford. The dispute concerned the service of legal documents on Holford, which was found to be impracticable due to his residence in a secure gated housing estate. The matter was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The court was required to decide whether substituted service of the originating application, statement of claim, genuine steps statement, and the order itself could be granted under Rule 10.24 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.

The court examined the evidence provided by Laura Scotton, a solicitor, and Warren Russ, a commercial agent. Scotton's affidavit confirmed Holford's address as being within a gated housing estate in Sanctuary Cove, Queensland, and his email address as [email protected]. Russ's affidavit detailed multiple attempts to serve the documents on Holford at his residence, all of which were unsuccessful due to security restrictions within the estate. The court concluded that it was impracticable to effect personal service on Holford, considering the security measures in place, and that further attempts would likely be futile.

Based on the evidence presented, the court found that substituted service was warranted. It was determined that documents sent to the Sanctuary Cove address would likely come to Holford's attention, given his residence there, and that emails sent to [email protected] would also reach him, as he had used this email address recently. Therefore, the court granted the application for substituted service, allowing the documents to be served via post to the Sanctuary Cove address and by email to [email protected]. The court also made orders regarding the timing of the service and reserved the costs of the application for later determination.