Commissioner of the Australian Building and Construction Commission v Hall and Ors (No.2); “The 3 Site Canberra Case (No.2)“

This matter came before Judge Neville in the Federal Court of Australia concerning applications brought by the Commissioner of the Australian Building and Construction Commission against various respondents, including the Seventh Respondent, the CFMEU. The dispute involved allegations of contraventions of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Court was to determine the extent of the Seventh Respondent's liability for contraventions of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth), particularly in light of concessions made by the Applicant regarding certain pleaded contraventions. Specifically, the Court was required to consider whether the Applicant's concessions, which indicated an unlikelihood of success on claims relating to sections 497, 499, and 500 of the Act, and the Applicant's decision not to press those specific claims, should lead to the dismissal of those contravention applications against the Seventh Respondent.

The Court's reasoning was informed by the Applicant's letter dated 22nd January 2019, which confirmed concessions made in earlier submissions. These concessions included that the Applicant was unlikely to succeed on claims alleging the Seventh Respondent's liability under sections 497, 499, and 500 of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth). Consequently, the Applicant stated it was not pressing those parts of its claim. The Court applied the principle that where a party withdraws or does not press certain allegations, those allegations should not form the basis of a finding of liability. The Court's judgment was to dismiss the contravention applications against the Seventh Respondent, except in relation to contraventions that were admitted or otherwise pressed by the Applicant. This included contraventions under section 503 of the Act and admitted contraventions under section 550 of the Act.