MORE than a decade after unlawful canal estate levies were imposed on some Redland City ratepayers, the long-running effort to locate and verify eligible claimants is entering its final phase.
Shine Lawyers, which is administering the class action settlement, says a wide-ranging search and contact program has been central to the process, as scrutiny grows over the timeline of the case, the tracing methods used, and the remaining funds.
Craig Allsopp, Head of Class Actions, said Shine had made “very extensive” outreach efforts to contact eligible group members.
Addressing the length of the process, Mr Allsopp added: “It has taken a decade to get to this point because the Council fought the class action all the way up to the High Court.”
Court documents filed in the settlement administration show the scale and complexity of the tracing and verification work undertaken to identify group members.
Shine has issued thousands of communications to group members across multiple channels, including email, post and SMS, using all contact information available from historic Council data, updated records and independent searches.
On several occasions throughout 2025, Shine sent large-scale contact campaigns to group members.
This included hundreds of emails requesting confirmation of contact details or bank details, hundreds of letters to members where email or mobile details were unavailable, and SMS messages requesting updated information.
In late November 2025 alone, Shine sent more than 900 emails, more than 1400 letters and more than 600 SMS messages urging group members to confirm registration details and provide banking information.
Despite these efforts, tracing eligible group members has been complicated by outdated or invalid contact details, requiring additional investigative and search-based strategies.
As at late 2025, more than 880 group members had provided bank details, while details for hundreds of others were still outstanding.
Shine also undertook additional search and investigative measures beyond standard notification processes.
A private investigator was engaged to locate updated contact details using public databases, social media and records searches, successfully identifying additional details for several group members.
The firm also conducted internal data cleansing and database searches across multiple commercial and public data sources, identifying alternative or additional contact information for hundreds of individuals and dozens of company and trust claimants.
Targeted social media outreach was also undertaken through Redlands community Facebook groups seeking to prompt registered group members to contact Shine to confirm their details.
The class action stems from “Special Charges” imposed between 2011 and 2016 on canal and waterfront estates including Raby Bay, Aquatic Paradise and Sovereign Waters.
The case was brought by representative plaintiffs challenging the legality of the levies, which courts ultimately found had no legal basis.
The original judgment of $3.79 million was handed down in 2021 and upheld through appeals.
With interest, legal costs, administration and litigation funder fees added, the total public cost has exceeded $6.2 million.
Supreme Court Justice Lincoln Crowley recently approved additional administration funding and procedural orders after a January 28 hearing, allowing more time to finalise payments to nearly 1600 eligible ratepayers.
The court approved an additional $200,000 plus GST in administration costs, in addition to $200,000 previously paid by Council.
Shine said the court’s latest orders provide confidence around the payment schedule.
“The court’s orders help to ensure that all payments can be made by June,” Mr Allsopp said.
Shine maintains it has taken significant steps to contact group members, and says the court has endorsed its approach.
“Shine has in fact gone above and beyond in attempting to contact all group members,” Mr Allsopp said.
“Secondly, the court has approved a final notice which has now been sent to group members, and made orders that group members who have not registered by February 28 will be excluded.
“The court is satisfied that the steps already taken by Shine together with the final notice were adequate to ensure group members were informed.”
Entitlements for members who do not register by the deadline will be redistributed.
The class action formally ended a long-running dispute over historic canal and lake maintenance charges, which Council stopped in 2016/17.
Since then, ongoing works have been funded through a new rating system.
Residents who believe they are eligible should email redlands.rates@shine.com.au.
