By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 20 April 2026.
Key points
- What it covers: injuries caused by someone else's carelessness in a shop, street, venue, park or home, public or private. The defendant usually has public liability insurance.
- You must prove negligence: a foreseeable, not insignificant risk that a reasonable person would have guarded against, and that the failure caused your injury.
- Pain and suffering damages need a significant injury: more than 5% whole person impairment for most physical injuries, or 10% for a psychiatric injury.
- Caps: pain and suffering damages are capped at $577,050 indexed yearly since 2016; lost earnings at 3 times Victorian average weekly earnings a week.
- Your own carelessness reduces damages, and can defeat the claim entirely.
- Time limit: generally 3 years from when the injury was discoverable, with a 12-year outer limit.
- For advice on a public liability claim in Victoria, call 1800 577 015 at any hour: free general legal information, and a 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in Victoria for a fixed $295.
In Victoria, a public liability claim is a negligence claim against the occupier or other person whose carelessness caused an injury, under the common law as changed by the Wrongs Act 1958. Damages for pain and suffering are available only for a significant injury (more than 5% whole person impairment for most physical injuries, or 10% for a psychiatric injury), and proceedings must generally start within 3 years of the injury becoming discoverable.
Checked on 23 October 2026 against the Wrongs Act 1958 and the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic).
What is a public liability claim?
"Public liability" is the everyday name for a claim against a person or organisation whose carelessness injured you in a place you were entitled to be: a shop, a footpath, a restaurant, a hotel, a park, a sports venue, a train station, or someone's home. Despite the name, it covers private places as well as public ones. The person or organisation usually has public liability insurance, so in practice you deal with an insurer.
In Victoria these claims are negligence claims under the common law, as changed by the Wrongs Act 1958. Common examples are slips and falls on wet or uneven floors, trips on broken footpaths or steps, falling objects, dog attacks, and injuries from faulty equipment.
What you must prove
- The occupier's duty: an occupier of premises must take the care that is reasonable in all the circumstances to see that people on the premises are not injured because of the state of the premises, or things done or not done about their state.
- What the court weighs for occupiers: how likely and how serious the injury was, the circumstances of your entry, the nature of the premises, what the occupier knew or ought to have known about people being there, your age and your ability to see the danger, whether you were intoxicated or doing something illegal, and the burden of removing the danger compared with the risk.
- Breach: the risk must have been foreseeable and not insignificant, and a reasonable person in the defendant's position would have taken precautions against it, considering how likely the harm was, how serious it would be, the burden of precautions and the social value of the activity.
- Causation: the negligence must have been a necessary condition of your injury, and you must prove every fact relevant to causation on the balance of probabilities.
- Obvious risks: if the defendant argues that you voluntarily accepted the risk and the risk was obvious (one a reasonable person in your position would have seen), you are presumed to have been aware of it unless you prove you were not.
- Your own carelessness: if you were partly to blame, for example not looking where you were going, your damages are reduced, and the court can reduce them by 100%, defeating the claim. See contributory negligence.
What you can claim
| Damages for | Rule under the Wrongs Act 1958 |
|---|---|
| Pain and suffering (non-economic loss) | Only if you have a "significant injury": an impairment of more than 5% of the whole person for most physical injuries, 5% or more for a spinal injury, or 10% or more for a psychiatric injury, assessed by an approved medical practitioner, or decided by a Medical Panel. Capped at $577,050, indexed every financial year since 1 July 2016. |
| Lost earnings and earning capacity (economic loss) | No impairment threshold. Capped, for each week of loss, at 3 times the average weekly earnings of all employees in Victoria. |
| Medical, care and other expenses | Recoverable if caused by the injury and reasonable. |
- Exceptions: the significant injury threshold does not apply to injuries caused intentionally to cause injury, or by sexual assault or other sexual misconduct, and transport accident claims follow the Transport Accident Act 1986 instead.
- Without an impairment assessment, loss of a foetus, loss of a breast, and psychological injury from losing a child because of an injury around the time of birth count as significant injuries.
Time limits
- The general rule: you must start court proceedings within 3 years from the date the injury was discoverable (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 suing), or within 12 years from the act or omission, whichever ends first.
- Children and people with a disability have different time limits.
- Extensions: a court can extend the time in some cases, but do not rely on it. Get advice early, report the incident, and keep photographs, witness details and medical records.
What to do after an injury
- Get medical treatment and keep every record, receipt and certificate.
- Report the incident to the shop, council, venue or owner, and ask for a copy of any incident report.
- Gather evidence: photographs of the hazard and your injuries, names of witnesses, CCTV (ask quickly, as footage is often overwritten), and the shoes or clothing you were wearing.
- Keep track of your losses: time off work, payslips, travel to appointments and care you needed.
- Get advice before signing anything from an insurer or accepting an offer.
Free legal help in Victoria
| Service | Number | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria Legal Aid | 1300 792 387 | 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday |
How Go To Court Lawyers can help
Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in Victoria is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can assess whether the occupier or council was negligent, whether your injury is likely to reach the significant injury threshold, what your claim may be worth, and the time limit that applies. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.
General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), authorised version 130, sections 14B, 26, 28F to 28H, 28LB to 28LF, 48 to 54 and 63, and the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic), authorised version 113, sections 27D, 27E, 27F and 27K, on 23 October 2026.