In the hierarchy of Australian courts, technically, a court can only be bound by another court in circumstances where an appeal lies directly or indirectly from the former court’s decision to the higher court.

The security of payment legislation in other jurisdictions in Australia has been highly litigated since its introduction in those jurisdictions. The SOP Act is almost identical to the New South Wales security of payment legislation.

In civil litigation, costs usually ‘follow the event’; that is, the successful litigant is awarded costs to be paid by the unsuccessful litigant. By comparison, in industrial litigation, the Federal Court of Australia is generally regarded as a ‘no costs’ jurisdiction because of the operation of section 570 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act).

BUILDING CONTRACT - Contractual dispute resolution clause a pre-condition to litigation – Whether dispute resolution clause uncertain and unenforceable – Principles as to uncertainty and enforceability of contractual dispute resolution clauses – Dispute resolution clause uncertain and left process for further agreement - Dispute resolution clause unenforceable.