20 Feb 2025
The appeal is dismissed because there was no concluded renewal or termination under the original contract; the Sessions Court's findings that no consensus ad idem existed and that the plaintiff failed to strictly prove special damages and storage costs were supportable and not plainly wrong.
24 Sept 2024
The original contract expired on 30.11.2019, was never validly renewed and was not terminated by the defendant; therefore clause 6 (obligation to absorb/buy stock) was not triggered, the defendant owed no contractual duty to accept or pay for the stock or storage, the plaintiff failed to prove actual loss on the balance of probabilities, and the plaintiff's claim is dismissed with costs.
13 Aug 2021
Given undisputed continuous automatic renewals without breaks and considering the parties' intention, employer's conduct and nature of the work per the Federal Court test, the Court of Appeal concluded the contracts were not genuine fixed-term contracts but amounted to permanent employment; the Industrial Court erred by relying on the appellant's stated understanding of contractual wording and unsubstantiated project-based reasoning, therefore the Industrial Court Award was quashed and the matter remitted for assessment of damages.