TC v State of New South Wales [1999] NSWSC 31

Reported Decision : [1999] Aust Torts Reports 81-500

New South Wales Supreme Court CITATION : TC v State of New South Wales [1999] NSWSC 31 revised - 26/03/99 CURRENT JURISDICTION : Common Law FILE NUMBER(S) : 11844/93 HEARING DATE(S) : 14/10/97-04/11/97; 19/11/97; 28/11/97; 02/12/97; 09/12/97; 27/01/98-06/02/98; 13/02/98; 05/03/98; 11/03/98; 22/06/98-25/06/98; 29/06/98-17/07/98; 22/07/98; 03/08/98-12/08/98; 20/08/98-21/08/98; 06/10/98-16/10/98 JUDGMENT DATE : 11 February 1999

PARTIES : TC by his tutor Kris Sabatino (Plaintiff) State of New South Wales (Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Studdert J

COUNSEL : A.B. Shand QC/R.R.I. Harper (Plaintiff) F.S. McAlary QC/G.W. Moore (Defendant) SOLICITORS : Heidtman & Co (Plaintiff) Crown Solicitor (Defendant) CATCHWORDS : Tort; Action in negligence; Claim by child in respect of negligence alleged against officers of YACS in failing to respond appropriately to complaints that concerned his welfare; Whether duty of care actionable in negligence, and if so whether there was any breach of such duty Child Welfare Act 1939 Family Law Act ACTS CITED : 1975 Children Act 1989 (Eng) Ombudsman Act Children Services Act (Qld) DECISION : See para 552

I N D E X

Paragraph Number

The cause of action outlined 11-14 TC's family history 15-28 The involvement of YACS 29-38 Sexual abuse: the evidence assessed 39-93 Was there a duty of care in YACS capable of founding a private cause of action? 94-191 The reliability of HF and HM as witnesses 192-213 HF 193-208 HM 209-213 Complaints of ill treatment of TC and the responses by YACS 214-382 Pre February 1983 214-229 Affidavits and other material produced in February/ March 1983 230-267 Assessment by this Court of material as to alleged physical abuse of TC 268-276 Complaints as to scratches in March and May 1983 277-297 The period from mid 1983 until May 1984 reviewed 298-317 The May 1984 notification of sexual abuse and the response by YACS 318-382 Bias 383-474 Mr Male 385-388 Mr Finch 389-392 Mr Hanrahan 393-397 Mrs Burgess 398-412 John Banks 413-416 T. Long 417-418 Mr Langshaw 419-422 Mr Lungley 423-427 Mr Heagney 428-430 Mr Shelston 431-433 Ms Withers 434-436 Mr Callaghan 437-442 Ms Boulter 443-474 The expert evidence considered 475-504 Delay in relation to Dr Waters 505-518 The negligence alleged against the various officers of YACS 519-545 Mr Plater 520 Mr Hulbert 521 Mr Finch 522-523 Mrs Burgess 524-525 Mr Hanrahan 526 Mr Langshaw 527-530 Mr Lungley 531 Mr Callaghan 532-534 Ms Boulter 535-536 Mr Heagney and Mr Croke 537 Ms Ralston and Ms Withers 538-544 The Department 545 Conclusions 546-551 Findings and formal orders 552