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High Court Bulletin
[2025] HCAB 5 (June 2025)
A record of recent High Court of Australia cases: decided, reserved for judgment, awaiting hearing in the Court’s original jurisdiction, granted special leave to appeal, refused special leave to appeal and not proceeding or vacated

1: Summary of New Entries................................................. 1

2: Cases Handed Down....................................................... 4

3: Cases Reserved.............................................................. 7

4: Original Jurisdiction....................................................... 21

5: Section 40 Removal...................................................... 22

6: Special Leave Granted................................................. 23

7: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated................................ 31

8: Special Leave Refused................................................. 32

1: Summary of New Entries

2: Cases Handed Down

Case

Title

Valuer-General Victoria v WSTI Properties 490 SKR Pty Ltd

Land Valuation

MDP v The King

Evidence

Ravbar & Anor v Commonwealth of Australia & Ors

Constitutional Law

3: Cases Reserved

Case

Title

R Lawyers v Mr Daily & Anor

Contract Law

Plaintiff S22/2025 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

Immigration Law

Palmanova Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia

Statutes

Michael Stewart by his litigation guardian Carol Schwarzman v Metro North Hospital and Health Service (ABN 184 996 277 942)
Torts

4: Original Jurisdiction

Case

Title

5: Section 40 Removal

Case

Title

6: Special Leave Granted

Case

Title

Moses Edward Obeid v The King Macdonald v The King

Edward Moses Obeid v The King

Criminal Law

WHS v The King

Criminal Law

CCDM Holdings, LLC & Ors v The Republic of India

International Law

AA v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle ABN 79469343054
Negligence

Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Bendel & Anor

Taxation

7: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated

Case

Title

Plaintiff S15/2025 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

Immigration Law

8: Special Leave Refused

2: Cases Handed Down

The following cases were handed down by the High Court of Australia during the May 2025 sittings.

Land Valuation

Valuer-General Victoria v WSTI Properties 490 SKR Pty Ltd

M96/2024: [2025] HCA 23
Date decided: 11 June 2025

Coram: Gageler CJ, Gordon, Steward, Gleeson and Jagot JJ

Catchwords:

Land valuation – assessment of land value under Valuation of Land Act 1960 (Vic) – where respondent owner of land subject to heritage-related planning restrictions – where house built in 1897 on land – where respondent successfully objected to valuations in Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
– where valuation required assumption that improvements had not been made
– where improvements defined in s 2(1) of Valuation of Land Act as “all work actually done or material used on and for the benefit of the land, but only in so far as the effect of the work done or material used increases the value of the land” – proper time for assessment of improvements – whether Court of Appeal erred in construing defining of “improvement” as requiring that effect of work done or material used increased value of land at time that work actually done or material used.

Appealed from VSCA: [2024] VSCA 157

Evidence

MDP v The King

B72/2023: [2025] HCA 24

Date delivered: 18…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading High Court Bulletin

Details

AGLC: High Court Bulletin [2025] HCAB 5
Case: [2025] HCAB 5
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case Valuer-General Victoria v WSTI Properties 490 SKR Pty Ltd was handed down by the High Court of Australia on 11 June 2025. The primary issue for determination was whether the Court of Appeal erred in construing the definition of "improvement" as requiring that the effect of the work done or material used increased the value of the land at the time that the work was actually done or material used. The Court of Appeal had found that the valuation required an assumption that improvements had not been made to the land, and that the improvements were defined in s 2(1) of the Valuation of Land Act 1960 (Vic) as "all work actually done or material used on and for the benefit of the land, but only in so far as the effect of the work done or material used increases the value of the land". The High Court held that the Court of Appeal erred in its construction of the definition of "improvement", and that the correct construction was that the effect of the work done or material used must increase the value of the land at the time that the work was actually done or material used. The Court of Appeal's decision was therefore set aside, and the matter was remitted to the Court of Appeal for further consideration.

The High Court of Australia reserved the following cases for hearing: R Lawyers v Mr Daily & Anor, Plaintiff S22/2025 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Palmanova Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia, and Michael Stewart by his litigation guardian Carol Schwarzman v Metro North Hospital and Health Service (ABN 184 996 277 942). The issues to be determined in these cases include the validity of a contract where advice of solicitors in relation to the preparation and negotiation of the agreement was inadequate, the validity of a decision not to revoke the cancellation of a visa under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), the interpretation of the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 (Cth), and the assessment of damages for personal injuries arising from treatment at a hospital operated by the respondent.

Orders