Secure Funding Pty Ltd v Dean

Secure Funding Pty Ltd brought proceedings against the Deans to recover a debt owed by them. The Deans did not defend the proceeding and default judgments were entered against them. The Deans subsequently brought an application to set aside the default judgments. The primary issue for the court to determine was whether the default judgments should be set aside. In considering this issue, the court was required to have regard to the matters set out in Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Johnston, including whether the defendants had a satisfactory explanation for their failure to defend, whether the delay in making the application precluded them from obtaining relief, and whether they had a prima facie defence on the merits. The court found that the Deans had provided a satisfactory explanation for their failure to defend and that Mrs Dean had a prima facie defence on the merits. Accordingly, the court set aside the default judgments. The court ordered that the default judgments be set aside, that the Deans pay the plaintiffs' costs of the application and that they file and serve their Defence and Counterclaim by a specified date.