O'Sullivan v Collis

The case of *O'Sullivan v Collis* involved an appeal to the High Court of Australia following a conviction in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The appellants, the director and legal manager of the Speedy Home Building Society, were convicted by a magistrate of unlawfully conducting a lottery, contrary to the *Suppression of Gambling Act 1895* (Qd.). The society was registered under the *Building Societies Act 1886* (Qd.), and its rules provided for members to ballot for the right to loans. A specific rule allowed the society to purchase a member's right to a loan for cash if the member was unable to dispose of it on satisfactory terms.

The legal issues before the court were whether the society's operations, particularly the provision for cash in lieu of loans and the method of balloting, constituted an unlawful lottery under the *Suppression of Gambling Act 1895* (Qd.), and whether the appellants possessed the necessary *mens rea* for the offence, given they acted under the society's registered rules. The court also considered whether the society was a lawfully established building society whose rules provided a legitimate advantage to members, or if its true purpose was to operate a lottery under the guise of building society registration.

The High Court, in refusing special leave to appeal, affirmed the decision of the Supreme Court of Queensland. Griffith C.J. stated that there was sufficient evidence before the magistrate to warrant a conviction, and that the Supreme Court was correct in upholding it. Isaacs J. concurred with this assessment. The reasoning implicitly accepted that the operation of the ballot and the cash option, when viewed in light of the evidence of the society's conduct, amounted to the unlawful conducting of a lottery, notwithstanding the society's registration and rules. The court found that the appellants had been rightly convicted.