Daly and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The applicant, Daly, sought an interlocutory order to stay Federal Court proceedings pending the outcome of a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The dispute arose from potentially inconsistent conclusions reached by the Federal Court and the AAT concerning privilege and forensic advantage.

The central legal issue before Deputy McCabe P was whether the Federal Court proceedings should be stayed to allow the AAT review to proceed first. This involved considering the implications of the AAT's potential findings on the ongoing Federal Court litigation, particularly regarding the assertion of privilege and the potential for a forensic advantage to be gained or lost depending on the order of proceedings.

Deputy McCabe P determined that the AAT review should proceed. The reasoning appears to have been that the AAT's determination was the primary or more appropriate forum for resolving the issues at hand, and that allowing it to conclude would provide clarity for the Federal Court proceedings. The court also made an interim order under s 35 of the AAT Act concerning sensitive and confidential information, with directions for redaction from published reasons. The parties were directed to confer on potential revisions to the Tribunal and to seek consent orders or request a directions hearing for a new timetable if necessary.