The Commonwealth could be liable for millions of dollars in compensation to former public servants who missed out on the government’s superannuation scheme through the 1960s to 1980s, a Canberra lawyer says.
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The claim follows a win against the Commonwealth by former public servant Wayne Meredith, one of five people with cases being heard in the ACT Supreme Court.
Richard Faulks from Snedden, Hall and Gallop said the decision meant the court had found that employees in three different Commonwealth workplaces throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s were misled as to their eligibility to join the scheme.
Mr Faulks described the decision as encouraging and hoped it would lead other former public servants to investigate their own circumstances.
“We’ve already had contact from hundreds of people and we’re led to believe there’s potentially thousands,” he said.
“We’re looking at millions of dollars overall, by the time every claim is looked at.”
A judgement handed down by Justice Richard Refshauge on Wednesday said Mr Meredith had begun work with ACT Forests in January 1966, when he was 19.
The father of four claimed he had asked about superannuation five times between 1966 and 1977, but was given incorrect information by senior members of staff, who had told him he was ineligible as he was a “blue collar worker”.
He took a voluntary redundancy on August 29, 2001, about 15 years after taking out a superannuation policy with a private insurance company.
As part of its submissions, the Commonwealth stated it was unlikely Mr Meredith would want to join a scheme at the time due to his growing family.
However, Justice Refshauge said he was satisfied Mr Meredith would have been eligible and would have joined a Commonwealth superannuation scheme had he been provided with the correct information at the time.
“I have found that Mr Meredith was negligently and culpably misinformed about his eligibility for entry to a Commonwealth superannuation scheme,” the judgement said.
“As this caused him to refrain from joining such a scheme, thereby suffering loss, the final question is whether he is entitled to damages and the quantity of damages to which he is entitled.”
The decision follows wins by John Cornwell and Martin Guy, the latter receiving a payout of $303,582 in July.
The court was yet to determine the damages owed to Mr Meredith, but Mr Faulks said initial calculations were "in the hundreds of thousands of dollars”.
Mr Faulks also criticized the court process as “too slow” in resolving the cases, which commenced several years ago.
Justice Refshauge apologised for the delay in handing down his judgement, but told the court he could not provide a timeframe for the remaining four cases.
“I don’t want to give a date, because I can’t guarantee it,” he said.
“They’re well underway.”
The matter returns to the ACT Supreme Court on Friday.
