Group members who do not opt out of group proceedings under Part 4A of the Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) are not precluded by Anshun estoppel or abuse of process from raising individual defences in subsequent proceedings that were not raised in the group proceeding. Part 4A does not provide a mechanism for group members to seek directions for determination of individual issues, and the failure to opt out cannot be treated as acceptance that all claims are being resolved in the group proceeding. The obiter statements in Clarke v Great Southern (No 4) suggesting otherwise were disapproved.
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