Kang v My Fashion Republic Pty Ltd t/as Cosette

Kang brought proceedings against My Fashion Republic, trading as Cosette, in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Kang sought relief for unlawful termination of employment, unfair dismissal, and unlawful deductions from wages. My Fashion Republic applied for an interlocutory order to permit it to rely on unredacted evidence in its defence, which it had not provided to Kang. Kang opposed this application on the grounds that the unredacted evidence was subject to a non-publication order, which was designed to protect the privacy and reputation of third parties.

The court considered whether the respondent could rely on unredacted evidence in the circumstances where the applicants had only been provided with redacted evidence. The court also considered whether non-publication orders should be made to protect the privacy and reputation of third parties. The court found that the non-publication orders did not prevent the respondent from relying on the unredacted evidence in its defence, as the orders only restricted the disclosure of the evidence to the applicants. The court also found that the respondent's need to rely on the unredacted evidence outweighed the need to protect the privacy and reputation of third parties.

Accordingly, the court dismissed Kang's application for non-publication orders and permitted My Fashion Republic to rely on the unredacted evidence in its defence. The court noted that any evidence relied upon by the respondent would be subject to the existing confidentiality and non-publication orders, and that any use of the evidence outside of the proceedings would be a breach of those orders. The court also noted that the respondent was not permitted to disclose the unredacted evidence to any third party without the leave of the court.