*The contents in this blog relates to legislation in South Australia.
If you are injured because of another person’s negligence, you may be entitled to claim compensation.
In South Australia, your right to public liability compensation is governed by the Civil Liability Act 1936 (SA). In order to establish a public liability claim, you must prove negligence. Negligence is the failure to take reasonable care to avoid injury or loss to another person.
To establish negligence, you must prove that you were owed a duty of care and the duty of care was breached. You must also show that the other person’s negligence caused your injuries.
Public liability claims encompass a range of situations where a person is injured as a result of someone else’s negligence. Claims can arise from incidents including slips and falls, unsafe premises, defective products and animal bites.
Slips, trips and falls are the most common public liability claims. For example, if you sustain injuries as a result of slipping on a grape in a supermarket or tripping on uneven flooring in a shop, you could have a claim against the owner or occupier.
Under the Civil Liability Act, the owner or occupier of a property owes a duty of care to those on its premises. To prove negligence, you will have to show that the owner failed to take reasonable care to avoid injury to you. Sometimes an owner can fulfill this duty by ensuring a risk or danger is well marked, such as by placing warning signs near wet floor or using bright coloured warning tape to highlight uneven flooring.
Defective products can also lead to public liability claims.
For example, if you contract Hepatitus A from frozen berries, or sustain burns from a beauty product, you could have a claim against the manufacturers of the product. Similarly to the owner of a shop, the manufacturer of a product must take reasonable care to avoid injury to you and this includes placing warning labels on products to ensure that you are aware of any risk or danger associated with their product.
If you think you might have a public liability claim, you should contact us to discuss your options. It is important to seek advice as soon as possible because there are strict time limits that apply in South Australia.
