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A total of 54 class actions commenced in Australia in the most recent fiscal year, equalling last year's record and prompting judges to take a more active role in case management, according to a report by King & Wood Mallesons.

The rise has prompted King & Wood to ask in its report The Review – Class Actions in Australia 2018/2019, whether the high level of class action activity is "the new normal".

The firm counted at least 54 new class actions filed in the year to June 30, with nearly half of them relating to securities or financial products and investment claims. About three quarters of the new actions involved a litigation funder.

There were also 16 consumer claims, including products liability claims in relation to the Essure contraceptive device, Hardi spray units, faulty airbags and aluminium composite, and an action by the taxi industry seeking compensation from Uber.

There were also claims against the state and employment claims.

King & Wood says Australian courts have become more active in monitoring and managing the conduct and progress of class action cases – from the commencement of a matter right through to its finalisation.

"The increase in the number of class actions being commenced has led to the courts' readiness to adopt a broad range of case management options in order to ensure the quick, inexpensive and efficient administration of justice," the report states.

Courts are placing a stronger onus on parties to resolve issues outside of court, so they can make sure the courts will not be overburdened and to ensure there are fewer issues in contest. They are also appointing case management judges to quickly and efficiently manage the proceedings as well as to hear any interlocutory disputes.

The report notes there is increased judicial scrutiny into the proportionality of litigation funding charges and legal costs to ensure that the "legitimate use of the court's processes are not undermined by proceedings that disproportionally benefit the funder and solicitor rather than the litigants".

Examples include conducting tender processes in competing class actions that require cost budgets to be provided, and auditing cost experts' reports.

The King & Wood report provides a snapshot of the state of class actions in Australia.

Among plaintiff firms, the "usual protagonists" dominated, with Maurice Blackburn commencing 10 actions, Slater and Gordon seven, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Shine Lawyers and William Roberts Lawyers four each.

About three quarters of new actions had a funder involved. Top among them were IMF Bentham with eight, Harbour Litigation Funding with seven, and Augusta Ventures with five.

Twenty-two class action settlements were approved by the courts in 2018-19 and, while the full value of all settlements is not known, King & Wood said publicly available information indicates at least A$500 million (US$340 million) in settlement funds was approved.

The most significant settlements were the A$215 million (US$146 million) settlement of various actions against Standard & Poor's/McGraw-Hill companies in relation to the rating of structured debt products and synthetic CDOs; and the A$132.5 million (US$90 million) settlement of the QBE securities class action, where shareholders alleged the insurance company engaged in false and misleading conduct and breached its continuous disclosure obligations ahead of a profit downgrade, which caused the share price to plunge.