In the matter of Alberton Investments Pty Ltd

Alberton Investments Pty Ltd was the plaintiff and sought access to specified books and records of the corporate defendants, which were also parties to the proceedings. The plaintiff, a director of the corporate defendants, sought access to the documents for herself and for nominated professional advisers, subject to a confidentiality undertaking. The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The plaintiff sought to access the documents to assist in the performance of her role as director, and the corporate defendants objected to the plaintiff accessing the documents without certain conditions.

The court was required to determine whether access to the books and records should be conditional on the plaintiff giving an undertaking that any advice by the advisers would be directed to the performance of her role as director, and whether the plaintiff should be prevented from seeking any advice on issues arising in relation to the books and records from her current solicitors. The court held that the plaintiff was entitled to access the books and records for the purposes of performing her role as director. The court held that the requirement for the plaintiff to give an undertaking that any advice by the advisers would be directed to the performance of her role as director was not appropriate, as the plaintiff's role as director required her to make decisions based on a range of information, and it was not appropriate to limit the sources of information available to her. The court also held that the plaintiff should not be prevented from seeking advice on issues arising in relation to the books and records from her current solicitors, as this would unnecessarily limit her ability to make informed decisions in her role as director.

The court's orders were that the plaintiff was entitled to access the books and records for the purposes of performing her role as director, and that any advice by the advisers could be directed to any matters relevant to the performance of her role as director. The court also ordered that the plaintiff was not prevented from seeking advice on issues arising in relation to the books and records from her current solicitors.