Collins v Trimatic Contract Services Pty Ltd and Ors (No.3)

In *Collins v Trimatic Contract Services Pty Ltd and Ors (No.3)*, heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the applicant sought to maintain a claim for penalty privilege in relation to certain documents. The respondents, Trimatic Contract Services Pty Ltd and others, contended that the applicant had waived this privilege by delivering evidence of others, and sought to adduce further evidence.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the applicant had waived its claim for penalty privilege over the disputed documents, and if so, whether the respondents should be permitted to give further evidence in light of that waiver. The Court was required to consider the circumstances under which privilege can be lost and the principles governing the admission of additional evidence in such proceedings.

Judge Jarrett determined that the applicant had indeed waived its penalty privilege by disclosing the documents in question to third parties. The Court reasoned that the purpose of penalty privilege is to protect a party from the disclosure of information that could expose them to penalties, and that this protection is lost once the information is voluntarily disclosed to others. Consequently, the respondents were permitted to give further evidence, as the basis for the privilege had been undermined by the applicant's own actions.