Part 9.4AAA (Protection for whistleblowers) had been in the Corporations Act since 2024 and was substantially revised and expanded in 2019, However, there had been few judgments on the new provisions. All that changed within weeks earlier in 2025 with three judgments handed down by the Federal Court of Australia:

• Mount v Dover Castle Metals Pty Ltd [2025] FCA 101 (Katzmann J, 21 February 2025);
• Reiche v Neometals Ltd (No 2) [2025] FCA 125 (Feutrill J, 28 February 2025);
• Jackson v Heart Research Institute Ltd [2025] FCA 301 (Raper J, 2 April 2025).

Vicki Bell has examined the judgments to compile insights on the following provisions about whistleblower protection which were not previously annotated:

• s 1317AAE Confidentiality of whistleblower's identity;
• s 1317AC Victimisation prohibited; and
• s 1317ADA Meaning of detriment,

as well as significantly expanding the existing annotations for:

• s 1317AA Disclosures qualifying for protection under this Part; and
• s 1317AD Compensation and other remedies—circumstances in which an order may be made.

In addition, Part 9.6A of the Corporations Act governs the jurisdiction and procedures of courts in corporations matters. Ms Bell has added annotations for: 

• s 1337D Jurisdiction of courts (decisions to prosecute and related criminal justice process decisions made by Commonwealth officers) discussing the essential character of an appeal in MBA Auto Rental Pty Ltd v ASIC [2024] ARTA 86, one of the first judgments of the recently created Administrative Review Tribunal of Australia; and
• s 1337P Conduct of proceedings, quoting extensively from the High Court judgment Bogan v Estate of Smedley [2025] HCA 7 (Gageler CJ; Gordon, Edelman, Steward, Gleeson, Jagot, Beech-Jones JJ, 12 March 2025).

Bogan is also a landmark case for s 1337H Transfer of proceedings by the Federal Court and State and Territory Supreme Courts. The High Court decided that group proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria should not be transferred to the New South Wales Supreme Court under s 1337H where the transfer would render a group costs order made in Victoria unenforceable.
 

Vicki Bell was admitted to the Bar in 2018 and practises from Lonsdale Chambers in Melbourne, primarily in corporate and commercial law. Her key experience includes restructuring and insolvency, class actions, contractual disputes and regulatory investigations and proceedings.
She is a Fellow of the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals (INSOL International) and has a particular interest in cross-border insolvencies and disputes.
Vicki lectures in Corporations Law and Property Law at Monash University in the Juris Doctor program.

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