If you've been injured in a public place — a supermarket, shopping centre, rental property or footpath — you may be able to claim compensation from the person or business responsible for that place. In NSW these claims are called public liability claims, and they're governed by the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW). Frisina Lawyers has acted for injured people since 1980, with offices in Liverpool and Gregory Hills.
A public liability claim is a compensation claim against the person or organisation that occupies or controls the place where you were injured — the "occupier". It covers most injuries that happen outside of work and outside of a motor vehicle accident. If your injury happened at work, see workers compensation; if it happened on the road, see motor accident claims. Common public liability scenarios include:
Public liability also extends to injuries at other private and public venues — clubs, car parks, gyms, parks and schools — wherever an occupier's failure to take reasonable care causes harm.
In most public liability claims you must prove four things: the occupier owed you a duty of care; they breached that duty by failing to act as a reasonable person would; that breach caused your injury; and you suffered actual harm or loss. The onus of proving each of these sits with you, the injured person — which is why gathering evidence early is so important.
In practice, "breach" means showing the risk was foreseeable, that it wasn't insignificant, and that a reasonable occupier in the same position would have taken precautions against it — for example, cleaning up a spill promptly or repairing a known hazard. "Causation" means showing the negligence was a necessary condition of your injury: that without the breach, you would not have been hurt.
The main exception is a dog attack, where the owner is generally liable without you having to prove negligence.
A successful claim can compensate you for the financial and personal consequences of your injury. The main categories — lawyers call them "heads of damage" — are your reasonably necessary medical and treatment expenses (past and future), your lost income and lost earning capacity including lost superannuation, the value of care and domestic assistance you need, and, in more serious cases, a lump sum for pain and suffering.
Some detail worth knowing:
Every case is different, and no lawyer can promise a particular outcome. What we can do is make sure every head of damage that applies to you is properly claimed and supported by evidence.
The first days after an injury matter enormously to a later claim. Report the incident, capture the scene, get witness details and see a doctor. Evidence disappears quickly — spills are mopped, footpaths are repaired, and CCTV is routinely overwritten — so a contemporaneous record is often the difference between a provable claim and a disputed one.
In practical terms:
The general rule in NSW is 3 years. Under the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), a personal injury claim must be brought within 3 years of the date the claim was "discoverable" by you, subject to a 12-year long-stop from the negligent act or omission. Treat 3 years from the date of the incident as your working deadline, and get advice well before it.
"Discoverable" means the first date you knew — or ought to have known — that you were injured, that the injury was caused by the defendant's fault, and that it was serious enough to justify a claim. For most people that is the date of the incident itself, but for injuries that emerge gradually the clock can start later. Don't rely on that nuance without advice: the 3-year discoverability period has no general extension provision, so missing it can end an otherwise strong claim.
Being partly at fault doesn't automatically stop you claiming — but it can reduce your compensation. This is called contributory negligence: if you failed to take reasonable care for your own safety (say, not watching where you were walking), a court can reduce your damages by the percentage it considers just and equitable, judged by the same reasonable-person standard that applies to the occupier.
Two things to know. A court has power to reduce damages by up to 100% in an extreme case, though courts are generally reluctant to apply very high reductions. And intoxication is treated more strictly: if you were intoxicated and that contributed materially to your injury, your claim may fail entirely, and where contributory negligence is presumed from intoxication the reduction is at least 25%. If you're worried fault might be an issue in your case, don't rule yourself out — get advice first.
Possibly. A warning sign is one factor, not a complete answer. The question is whether the occupier took reasonable care overall — how long the hazard was there, whether the cleaning system was adequate, and whether the sign actually gave effective warning. A sign may lead to an argument about contributory negligence rather than defeating the claim. It depends on the facts, which is why we look at each case individually.
In most cases, an insurer. Businesses, shopping centres, landlords and councils typically hold public liability insurance, and many dog owners are covered under their home and contents policy. Your claim is made against the occupier or owner, but it's usually their insurer who investigates, negotiates and pays. If a dog owner is uninsured, they are personally liable.
There's no standard figure — it depends on the seriousness of your injury, its effect on your ability to work, your treatment needs, and whether you meet the threshold for pain and suffering damages (15% of a most extreme case). Two people with the same injury can receive very different amounts because their lives are affected differently. We can give you a realistic view of your claim's likely range once we've assessed your circumstances.
Most public liability claims settle without a court hearing, through negotiation with the occupier's insurer. Court proceedings are sometimes needed to protect a time limit or where liability is disputed, but even then the great majority of cases resolve before trial. We prepare every claim as if it will be tested, which puts you in a strong position to settle it well.
If you've been injured in a public place, an obligation-free first consultation with Frisina Lawyers will tell you where you stand — whether you have a claim, what it may cover, and what to do next. We'll explain how our fees work before you commit to anything, and Anthony Frisina has been an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law with the Law Society of NSW since 1998.
Call (02) 9602 4999, email lawyers@frisina.com.au, or contact us online. We're at Liverpool and Gregory Hills.
This page is general information only, not legal advice. Time limits apply to compensation claims. Please get advice about your own situation before acting.