Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Liu

The case of Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Liu involves a dispute where the plaintiff, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, seeks to recover possession of land and payment of a debt from the defendants, who are currently residing in an unknown location. The court had to consider the application by the plaintiff for orders allowing substituted service of the originating process on the defendants due to their unavailability for personal service. The central legal issues were whether it was impractical for the plaintiff to serve the originating process as required by Chapter 4 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, and whether it was appropriate to dispense with the requirements for personal service in rule 105 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999.

The court examined the evidence presented, including the plaintiff's attempts to serve the documents at the defendants' last known address, which proved unsuccessful as the defendants had moved. Additionally, the plaintiff's efforts to contact the defendants through provided email addresses and telephone numbers yielded limited information, with no other addresses available. The court concluded that it was impracticable for the plaintiff to serve the originating process in the conventional manner due to the defendants' unknown whereabouts. Consequently, the court found it appropriate to make orders substituting another method of service as permitted by rule 116 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, and to dispense with the personal service requirements of rule 105.

Based on the findings, the court ordered that the claim and statement of claim, along with the order itself, could be served on the defendants through email and text message. The court specified that service would be deemed effective four days after the email and text message were sent. Additionally, the plaintiff's costs related to the application were to be covered by the plaintiff in the proceeding.