Australian Government Sued Over Lack of Disclosure of Climate Change-Related Investment Risks [1]
On July 22, 2020, lawyers for Kathleen O’Donnell filed a claim in the Federal Court of Australia against The Commonwealth of Australia, the Secretary to the Department of Treasury, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Office of Financial Management. According to the notice [3], Ms. O’Donnell contends that climate change will have an appreciable impact on Australia and therefore financial products that its government offers on the Australian Securities Exchange; consequently, “an investor is entitled to be informed of those risks.” By not including this information on “Information Documents” related to the products, she claims that the respondents are in violation of their duty to disclose, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 [4], and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 [5]. In addition to declarations from the Court that these breaches occurred, Ms. O’Donnell requested “an injunction restraining the Commonwealth from further promoting [Exchange-traded Australian Government Bonds] until it complies with its duty of disclosure.”