What is the Stolen Wages Class Action?The Stolen Wages Class Action proceedings claimed that the Queensland “Protection Acts” in force between 1939 and 1972, required that the wages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers to be paid to the protector or superintendent of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander district, reserve, settlement or mission. The Applicant claimed the monies were paid to the protector or superintendent on “trust”, or subject to a fiduciary duty to act with care and control of the money received. It was claimed the Queensland Government breached its duties as trustee, or its duties as a fiduciary, by failing to repay that money to the workers. Read more here.
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Stolen Wages administrators |
Bottoms English Lawyers in Cairns represented Mr Hans Pearson in the Stolen Wages Class Action and have been appointed by the Federal Court as the lawyers for the Settlement Distribution Scheme, the document that sets out how the Stolen Wages settlement monies are to be paid.
The Federal Court on 17 January 2020 also appointed Anthony Beven and Tony Jonsson from Grant Thornton Australia in Cairns to administer the Settlement Distribution Scheme. Their role is to distribute the Stolen Wages settlement monies to eligible claimants. Grant Thornton is one of the world's leading independent accounting, audit, tax and advisory firms. It has more than 1,300 people working in offices in Cairns, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Please contact Grant Thornton's Stolen Wages Information Centre (Contact Us) if you have any questions about the Settlement Distribution Scheme. |
