50W—Court may set aside affected agreement
(1) A person (the
"applicant") who, because of an affected agreement, is prevented from
commencing or maintaining proceedings on a cause of action to which
section 3A of the Limitation of Actions Act 1936 applies, or in
respect of an abuse claim (within the meaning of Part 7A), may—
(a)
commence proceedings on the cause of action in a court with sufficient
jurisdiction to hear the cause of action; and
(b)
apply to the court to set aside the affected agreement.
(2) The court may set
aside an affected agreement if it is just and reasonable to do so.
(3) The court may
consider the following in making its decision to set aside the
affected agreement:
(a) the
extent to which the existence of the limitation period or barriers to
identifying an appropriate defendant materially contributed to the applicant's
decision to enter into the agreement;
(b) the
circumstances in which the agreement was negotiated and entered into,
including—
(i)
whether negotiations were affected by an imbalance of
power; and
(ii)
whether the applicant was legally represented; and
(iii)
whether the defendant (or other parties) engaged in
unfair or oppressive conduct;
(c) any
other matter the court considers relevant.
(4)
Section 67C(1) of the Evidence Act 1929 does not prevent evidence
being adduced in proceedings under this section, even if the evidence is of a
communication made, or a document prepared, in connection with an attempt to
negotiate a settlement of the dispute to which the affected agreement relates.
(5) If the court
decides to set aside an affected agreement it may also set aside any of the
following that gives effect to the agreement:
(a) a
contract, deed or other agreement;
(b) an
order or judgment of the court or of a lower court.
(6) However, the court
must not set aside the following:
(a) a
deed of release signed by or on behalf of the applicant in acceptance of an
offer under the National Redress Scheme and an agreement relating to a
relevant prior payment that has been taken into account in the offer;
(b) a
contract of insurance.
(7) In this
section—
"National Redress Scheme" means the National Redress Scheme for Institutional
Child Sexual Abuse established under the National Redress Scheme for
Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Act 2018 of the Commonwealth.