Screen the expert against section 5O, which does not require a significant number
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the proposed expert's field, the year of the treatment, and the field of the practitioner whose care is in issue, make a table against the peer words in section 5O. Do not decide that the opinion would be widely accepted or irrational. Do not draft the report.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether the proposed expert is a peer. The table does not decide the opinion.
- Do not add a significant number of respected practitioners. Section 5O does not use those words.
- Keep health and wage records in a firm-controlled tool, not a public one.
- ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. Decide if a breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. New South Wales. A screen of a proposed liability expert against section 5O.
Produce. A screening table against the peer words in section 5O, before the expert is instructed.
Have ready. The proposed expert's field; The year of the treatment; The field of the practitioner whose care is in issue.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The proposal uses the words a significant number of respected practitioners. The table strikes those words and keeps widely accepted in Australia by peer professional opinion. It does not decide that the opinion is irrational.
Stop and hand it back when
- The tool is asked to decide that the opinion would be widely accepted or irrational.
- The tool is asked to draft the report.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the proposed expert's field, the year of the treatment, and the field of the practitioner whose care is in issue, make a table against the peer words in section 5O. Do not decide that the opinion would be widely accepted or irrational. Do not draft the report. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Match the proposed field to the field of the practitioner whose care is in issue, at the time the service was provided.
- Record the words: widely accepted in Australia by peer professional opinion as competent professional practice. Do not add a significant number of respected practitioners.
- Record that the opinion need not be universal, that differing opinions may be relied on, and that it cannot be relied on if the court considers it irrational.
- Do not draft the report. Practice Note SC Gen 23, paragraph 24, must be drawn to the expert when the lawyer instructs.
Sources
- Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) section 5O · 2026-10-23
- Supreme Court of NSW Practice Note SC Gen 23 · 2026-10-23
Section 5O uses irrational, not unreasonable. No written-reasons subsection was in the section opened. Paragraph 20 says generative AI must not draft an expert report without prior leave, subject to paragraph 23.
If this is filed in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Practice Note SC Gen 23, issued on 28 January 2025 and commenced on 3 February 2025, bars generative AI from the content of an affidavit or witness statement, and from an expert report without prior leave, subject to paragraph 23.