Australian Private Securities Class Actions and Investor Protection

The thesis examines whether private securities class actions (PSCAs) can provide investor protection from poor stock market securities disclosure in Australia, defining and exploring each of these concepts. It analyses whether there are legal conceptual or practical obstacles to PSCAs and compares investor protection from poor securities disclosure through PSCAs with public enforcement of securities laws. In doing so it analyses empirical data from the 19 largest successful Australian PSCAs in respect of key attributes and concludes that, though the need for public enforcement remains, Australian PSCAs can provide a species of investor protection from poor securities disclosure.