Sand pit or legal pit? Court confirms a school’s duty of care when supervising sports

By: Meisha Tjiong, William Yeo and Hannah Turl At a glance On 4 and 17 October 2024, the District Court of NSW delivered its decisions in Stanberg v State of New South Wales [2024] NSW DC 462, and entered a judgment for the State with the Plaintiff to pay the State’s party/party costs and partial […]

Damages update: Victorian Court of Appeal reassesses damages in historical abuse case

By: Jonathan Maher and Tushka Sridharan At a glance The Court of Appeal reduced the jury’s $1.1 million award of pain and suffering damages to $550,000, deeming the original amount “manifestly excessive”, aligning it with judge-alone awards in similar cases. The jury’s $1.3 million exemplary damages award was set aside entirely, with the Court of […]

To care, or not to care: when does a public agency owe a private duty?

By: Patrick Thompson and James Clohesy At a glance The UK Supreme Court has delivered another judgment dealing with when a public authority can owe a private duty of care to members of the public. The decision reaffirms what is becoming a bright line distinction in the UK between cases where the public authority, by […]

Tort of privacy recognised in Australia

By: Patrick Thompson At a glance In Lynn Waller v Romy Barrett [2024] VCC 962, the plaintiff successfully argued that the defendant breached her confidences and invaded her privacy by disclosing private details from counselling sessions to media outlets, leading to damages awarded. Judge Tran recognised a distinct cause of action for invasion of privacy […]

Slipped or tripped? Plaintiffs must prove what actually happened

By: Jonathan Maher and Arriane Garcia Alan Bernard McKenzie v Charles Stewart & Company Proprietary Limited (trading as Colac Rental Management) [2024] VCC 429 At a glance In the decision of Alan Bernard McKenzie v Charles Stewart & Company Proprietary Limited (trading as Colac Rental Management) [2024] VCC 429, the County Court of Victoria has […]

Court of Appeal says ‘back to business as usual’ with the Victorian Medical Panel

By: Andrew Seiter and Hope Saloustros   At a glance On 1 May 2023, Judge Fraatz of the Victorian County Court handed down judgment in the Rosata matter, holding that a Medical Panel can only make one determination in the same proceeding to determine whether a claimant’s injuries meet the threshold to claim non-economic loss damages in […]

State of the nation: a guide to personal injury claims in Australia – updated for 2023-24

We’re delighted to share W+K’s State of the nation 2023-24 – our guide to different procedural rules, limitation periods, assessment of damages and recent cases for personal injury claims in each Australian state. Assessments of damages in personal injury claims and the apportionment of damages in property damage/economic loss claims in Australia are governed by […]

County Court decision overturns long-standing Medical Panel process

On 1 May 2023, the Victorian County Court handed down its judgment in the Rosata matter. The decision has taken respondents in Victoria by surprise and may overturn a process that has been bedded down over the last 20 years. In Rosata, the County Court held that the Medical Panel can only make one determination […]

The mystery of the water on the floor: County Court confirms that speculation is not enough

Karlevski v Vicinity Centres PM Pty Ltd & Anor [2023] VCC 482 A recent decision by the County Court of Victoria has reconfirmed that while plaintiffs in personal injury actions can rely on inferential reasoning in the absence of direct evidence to a point, mere conjecture is not sufficient. In this matter, which involves a […]

Changes affecting personal injury claims in Queensland from 31 October 2022

Today, the remaining provisions of the Personal Injuries Proceedings and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (the Amendment Act) came into force. These amend the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002, the Legal Profession Act 2007 and the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003. The amendments, together with the provisions that were already in force from the […]