Zivanovic v Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Zivanovic v Australian Securities and Investments Commission involved an application by Zivanovic, a director of a group of companies, to suppress and prevent the publication of his identity. This was in relation to an appeal to the Federal Court of Australia against a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to disqualify him from managing corporations for three years. The appeal was based on the insolvency of 18 companies associated with Zivanovic. The central legal issues were whether the suppression and non-publication of Zivanovic's identity was necessary to prevent prejudice to the administration of justice and whether the stay on the disqualification order could be varied to allow the publication of a media release by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The Court found that Zivanovic's concerns about the financial consequences of the publication of his identity were speculative and did not constitute prejudice to the administration of justice. The Court emphasised that a suppression order would not be made merely to protect the secrecy obtained in AAT proceedings. The Court also held that the nature of the prejudice identified by Zivanovic was not a prejudice to the administration of justice but rather the embarrassment inherent in the conduct of litigation. Furthermore, the Court determined that the stay on the disqualification order could not be varied to permit ASIC to make a media release, as ASIC had accepted it should not be allowed to record the disqualification order in its public register. The application for suppression and the application for variation to the stay were both dismissed. The Court ordered Zivanovic to file and serve an amended notice of appeal by a specified date and directed that no third-party access to the Court file would be granted without the parties being heard on the request.