Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Bannister Law Class Actions and Centennial Lawyers have announced they have joined forces to run what they say is a landmark data breach complaint against Medibank that could secure compensation payments for as many as 9.7 million affected customers.
The firms this week entered a joint cooperation agreement against Medibank and AHM in relation to the data breach. The firms have been investigating compensation claims and have already registered tens of thousands of Medibank customers.
Last November, Maurice Blackburn lodged a formal representative complaint against Medibank with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which has the power to order compensation.
Under the co-operation agreement, the firms say they will now pursue the OAIC complaint seeking compensation for those affected by the data breach.
Bannister Law Class Actions Principal Charles Bannister said he hoped the co-operation agreement would lead swiftly to compensation payments to the millions of Medibank customers whose data was breached.
“We believe the data breach is a betrayal of Medibank Private’s customers and a breach of the Privacy Act. Medibank has a duty to keep this kind of information confidential” Mr Bannister said.
“The data breach exposes the lack of safeguards in place to prevent such personal and private information being released to wrongdoers and Medibank & AHM have failed policy holders.” Said Adjunct Professor George Newhouse of Centennial Lawyers.
Maurice Blackburn’s head of class actions Andrew Watson said the cooperation agreement was a significant development.
“This data breach has caused millions of Australians significant distress. The cooperation agreement ensures that all three law firms are working together for the common aim of obtaining compensation for those affected as quickly as possible.”
On 13 October 2022, Medibank Private Limited confirmed in an ASX release that it had detected “unusual activity” on its network on 12 October 2022. By 20 October 2022, Medibank disclosed that its customer data had been accessed and stolen by a third party.
Medibank has since confirmed that about 9.7 million current and former Medibank, AHM and international student customers, and some of their authorised representatives, had personal data and significant amounts of health claim data accessed in the Data Breach.
If you are a current or former Medibank, AHM or international student customer you are eligible to register to receive regular updates about the Complaint and any compensation which may be sought on your behalf. For information or to register visit www.medibankclassaction.com.au or www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/class-actions/join-a-class-action/medibank-data-breach/
