A class action is a legal action that is brought by one or more persons (Applicant(s), being in this case Mr Wills and Ms Danaher) on their own behalf (or in this case in their capacity as trustees) and on behalf of a group of persons (Group Members) against another person or persons (Respondent(s), being in this case Woolworths), where the Applicant(s) and the Group Members all have similar claims against the Respondent(s).

The Applicants in a class action do not need to seek the consent of Group Members to commence a class action on their behalf, or to identify a specific Group Member or Members. However, Group Members can cease to be Group Members by ‘opting out’ of the class action before the Court-imposed deadline. An explanation of how Group Members could opt out was contained in a previous notice to Group Members and, as noted above, the deadline for opting out has now passed.