Legal action in Queensland over Covid restrictions following pandemic sackings can continue, judges rule
The group includes healthcare workers, small business owners, employees of Education Queensland, privately employed teachers and workers in the hospitality sector.
Most of the group refused to take a COVID vaccine, while others launched legal action because they had to turn customers who were not vaccinated away from their businesses.
Their applications were dismissed in 2023, before the matter reached the trial stage and the substantive legal and factual arguments could be made.
The Supreme Court said the cases did not have legal standing as the health directives had been revoked by the state government.
The applicants appealed that decision last year, and on Tuesday it was overturned.
Three Court of Appeal judges found they did have legal standing and ordered that the appeals be allowed.
When determining if there were any other grounds to dismiss the applications, Justice John Bond said there was "no other good reason to deny the applicants their day in court".
"In an attempt to establish the merits of their claims for declaratory orders in relation to alleged past contraventions," he said.
The decision to overturn the Supreme Court judgement comes 18 months after challenges to COVID vaccine mandates in Queensland were successful.
In that case, a judge ruled that imposing the directives on Queensland Police and Queensland Ambulance Service was unlawful, finding the directives breached a section of the Human Rights Act.
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