Public liability claims: who is responsible when you are injured on someone else’s property?

Being injured on someone else’s property does not automatically make them responsible. Australian negligence law asks who controlled the place, whether the risk was foreseeable and not insignificant, and whether a reasonable person in their position would have done something about it. This post explains how responsibility is decided, what evidence answers those questions and the rules that shape what a claim is worth.

The short answer

The occupier, the person or organisation in control of the premises or the activity, owes a duty to take reasonable care for people who come there. You must show they breached that duty by failing to guard against a foreseeable risk, and that the breach caused your injury. Public authorities and organisers of risky recreation have extra defences. Court claims generally have three years; Queensland also needs a notice within nine months.

Who is the occupier?

The occupier is whoever has control, not necessarily the owner. In practice:

Where it happened	Usual occupier
Supermarket, shop, shopping centre	The retailer for its store; the centre manager for common areas and car parks
Rental home	The landlord for structural hazards; the tenant for hazards they created
Footpath, road, park	The council or road authority
Venue, event, sports ground	The operator or organiser, sometimes with a contractor
Workplace you visited as a contractor	The business controlling the site, alongside your own employer’s workers compensation
Private home	The householder, often covered by home insurance

More than one party can share responsibility. A cleaning contractor and a centre manager, or a landlord and a managing agent, are often both named.

What you must prove

Negligence has four elements, and each state’s civil liability legislation adds detail:

1. Duty of care. Nearly always established for an occupier.
2. Breach. The risk was foreseeable and not insignificant, and a reasonable occupier would have taken precautions, weighed against the probability and seriousness of harm and the burden of preventing it.
3. Causation. The breach caused the injury.
4. Damage. A compensable injury and loss.

Obvious risks and inherent risks in recreational activities give occupiers defences in most states, and public authorities can rely on their limited resources and the reasonableness of their systems. Those defences make the facts decisive.

The evidence that decides responsibility

• Photographs of the hazard and surroundings taken on the day.
• An incident report lodged with the occupier, with a reference number.
• Witnesses, including staff who attended.
• The occupier’s own records: cleaning and inspection logs, previous complaints, incident registers and CCTV. A lawyer can request preservation; footage is often overwritten within weeks.
• Medical records from the first visit, describing how the injury happened.

Three examples of how responsibility is decided

The supermarket spill. A customer slips on grapes in the fruit aisle. The store’s defence is a reasonable system: staff walk each aisle every 20 minutes and record it. Responsibility turns on whether the system existed and was followed that day. The inspection log for the hour before the fall, the CCTV and the manager’s incident report decide it. If the log shows the aisle was last checked 90 minutes earlier, the store is likely responsible. If the grapes were dropped by another customer a minute before the fall, it is probably not.

The council footpath. A pedestrian trips on a paver lifted 30 millimetres by a tree root. Councils are protected by provisions that focus on their resources and their inspection programs, and some states require the council to have had actual knowledge of the particular risk. Responsibility turns on whether the defect had been reported, how long it had existed and whether the council’s inspection regime was reasonable for that street. A photograph with a ruler and any earlier complaints to council are the evidence that matters.

The rental property. A tenant falls when a balcony railing gives way. The landlord’s duty is to take reasonable care that the premises are safe, which includes acting on reported defects and on defects a reasonable inspection would find. Responsibility turns on whether the railing was reported, whether the managing agent inspected and whether the defect was visible. Emails to the agent and the condition report at the start of the tenancy are the key documents.

In each case the same four elements apply, but the evidence that answers them is different, and it is usually held by the other side. That is why an early preservation request from a lawyer is often the most valuable step in a public liability claim.

Thresholds that shape the claim

Damages for negligence are limited by each state’s civil liability legislation. In New South Wales no damages for non-economic loss are awarded unless the severity is at least 15% of a most extreme case (Civil Liability Act 2002 s 16). In Victoria a claimant needs a significant injury, more than 5% whole person impairment for most physical injuries and 10% or more for psychiatric injury (Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria). Queensland scores general damages on an injury scale value from 0 to 100 (Civil Liability Act 2003). Treatment costs and lost income are assessed separately and are not subject to those thresholds. Contributory negligence, such as not watching where you walked, reduces damages by a percentage rather than defeating the claim.

Deadlines

Court claims generally have a three-year limitation period: from discoverability in New South Wales (Limitation Act 1969 s 50C) and Victoria (Limitation of Actions Act 1958 s 27D), and from the cause of action in Queensland (Limitation of Actions Act 1974 s 11), Western Australia (Limitation Act 2005 s 14) and South Australia (Limitation of Actions Act 1936 s 36). Queensland also requires Part 1 of a notice of claim within 9 months of the incident or 1 month after first instructing a lawyer (Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 s 9). Claims against councils can carry earlier notice expectations, so get advice quickly.

Frequently asked questions

Does the owner have to know about the hazard? They must have known or ought to have known. A reasonable system of inspection that would have found the hazard is the usual test.

Can I claim against my landlord? Yes, for hazards the landlord was responsible for and failed to fix after notice, such as a loose railing or a broken step.

What if I was drunk or not paying attention? Contributory negligence reduces damages by a percentage. It rarely defeats the claim, but it changes the value.

Is a public liability claim worth pursuing for a minor injury? Expenses and lost wages can be claimed even when the injury does not clear the threshold for non-economic loss. Ask before deciding.

This article is general information, not legal advice, checked on 26 September 2026. An enquiry with Australian Claim Helpline does not lodge a claim or pause a time limit; the public liability guide has more, and the claim check takes two minutes.

General information published 26 September 2026. It is not legal advice and may not reflect later changes to the law or a scheme. Check your own position with a qualified adviser.

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