Westpac Banking Corporation v Farrant [No 5]

[2026] WASC 398

Supreme Court of Western Australia

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

1. Practice and procedure
1. Interlocutory injunction
1. Whether lawyer for lender should be restrained from acting
1. Whether lender should be restrained from proceeding with assignment of the debt the subject of the action

A court will restrain a solicitor from acting only on three established grounds — possession of a former client's confidential information relevant to a current retainer, conflict of interest between lawyer and client, or where necessary to ensure the due administration of justice — and the test is whether a fair-minded, reasonably informed member of the public would conclude that the proper administration of justice requires the restraint.
An applicant for an interlocutory injunction must identify the legal or equitable rights in respect of which final relief is sought; where the underlying action is concluded (here, a possession order already executed), and the applicant identifies no right capable of supporting final relief, there is no serious question to be tried and the foundation for interlocutory relief falls away.
A debtor has no right to be provided with a copy of the agreement assigning the debt, only notice that the assignment has occurred; accordingly, the absence of documentary proof of the assignment agreement furnished to the debtor does not raise a serious question as to the validity of the assignment under s 20(1) of the Property Law Act 1969 (WA).