NSW MINING CLASS ACTION COULD HAVE STATE-WIDE IMPLICATIONS

Cadia case highlights risks facing communities across regional NSW, and the need for stronger protections

A landmark class action over contamination from the Cadia goldmine will come before the Supreme Court of New South Wales for its first hearing in Sydney on 17 March 2026, drawing attention from communities across the state concerned about the impacts of large-scale mining operations.

The case has been brought by the Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN) on behalf of local landholders who say contamination has affected more than 2,000 surrounding properties. CCSN seeks legal remedies including compensation for reduced property values and court orders to restrain further pollution.

The CCSN website outlines a series of environmental incidents and community concerns over the past decade, including the 2018 collapse of a tailings dam and the subsequent storage of mining waste in an old pit. The group says this resulted in toxic dust containing heavy metals dispersing across nearby farms, homes, schools, and rainwater tanks, and has raised concerns about possible leakage of tailings waste and mining chemicals into local waterways and groundwater.

CCSN is a founding member of MIC Up, alongside many other community organisations from minerals and metals mining-impacted regions across NSW including communities in the Central West, Mudgee region, the Manning Valley, Northern Rivers, and the Far West, with additional communities joining as mineral exploration and mining expand into new areas.

For more information on the case, go to https://www.ccsn.au.