A PWF reader has alerted us to the fact that victims of the Kinglake-Kilmore East fire on Black Saturday have been spared the trauma of attending court during their case for compensation, after the Supreme Court agreed to transmit proceedings live on the internet.
As many as 10,000 people are expected to take part in a class action for losses from the Black Saturday fire, in a trial scheduled to start in Melbourne next month.
Rory Walsh from Maurice Blackburn says the decision to stream the proceedings to the plaintiffs means they will not have to suffer the psychological trauma and financial costs of attending the trial. He says:
“It’s a novel outcome to transmit live on the internet the proceedings in its entirety but it’s certainly one that we welcome in this case and we think it’s going to make a big difference in the access of the proceedings to our clients…
If those people were able to access the proceedings over the internet from the comfort of their homes with family and support persons around them, that might be a better way for such persons, who are vulnerable people, to participate in this trial.”
Thanks for the advice Roma
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I have learned today that this wonderful opportunity is available to those who have registered their interest in the outcome of the Class Action. I am sorry if I gave the impression that it was open to be viewed by the general public. Each of these survivors is to be issued with a case sensitive password to access the online streaming.