---
title: "Identify Victorian dependants and who may sue under the Wrongs Act 1958"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/identify-who-may-benefit-from-a-dependency-claim-and-who-may-bring-it/victoria"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-FM20261023-1-VIC"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["VIC"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Identify Victorian dependants and who may sue under the Wrongs Act 1958

> In a firm-controlled tool, list each person and the relationship the documents state against sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Wrongs Act 1958. Leave dependency, the plaintiff and the shares blank.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/identify-who-may-benefit-from-a-dependency-claim-and-who-may-bring-it/victoria  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | In a firm-controlled tool, list each person and the relationship the documents state against sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Wrongs Act 1958. Leave dependency, the plaintiff and the shares blank. |
| What the lawyer must review | Decide who was wholly, mainly or partly dependent, and who should sue. Use section 18 only where there is no executor, or no action within six months of the death. Leave the shares blank. This table is not the filed particular. |
| Written for | Victoria |
| Applies to | [Identify who may benefit from a dependency claim and who may bring it](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/identify-who-may-benefit-from-a-dependency-claim-and-who-may-bring-it.md) |

## Checking plan

**Victorian dependants and plaintiff**

The tool rows people against sections 16 to 18. The lawyer decides dependency, who sues, and the shares.

- What the AI does: In a firm-controlled tool, list each person and the relationship the documents state against sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Wrongs Act 1958. Leave dependency, the plaintiff and the shares blank.
- What the lawyer does: Make the legal assessment, check the source material and authorise the output for its intended use.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Match each person to dependency at death, or to dependency that the injury prevented, under section 17.
2. Record the executor or administrator as plaintiff unless section 18 applies.
3. Count six months from the death before treating a dependant as able to sue.
4. Leave the court's division of shares blank.

## Notes

- Section 16 of the Wrongs Act 1958 makes the person who would have been liable if death had not ensued liable to an action for damages. Section 17 brings that action for the benefit of the dependants, in the name of the executor or administrator. Dependants are persons wholly, mainly or in part dependent at death, or who would have been but for the incapacity caused by the injury. The court divides the amount recovered in the shares it finds. Section 18 lets all or any of those persons sue if there is no executor or administrator, or if no action has been brought within six months after the death.
- Family, wage and medical records stay in a firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. A breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: Victoria: an action under Part III of the Wrongs Act 1958

**Deliverable**: A table of possible dependants, the plaintiff, and a blank share column.

**Inputs**

- Family documents selected by the lawyer
- Death record
- Any grant or note that no grant has been made

**Example**: Illustrative example: An adult child received regular money, and a housemate paid equal rent. The tool rows the documents for each. The lawyer decides who was wholly, mainly or partly dependent.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The six-month count cannot be made from the death record.
- The table would be filed as the particulars.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s 16](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/wa1958111/s16.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s 17](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/wa1958111/s17.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s 18](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/wa1958111/s18.html) (checked 2026-10-23)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Apportionment of a dependency claim settlement for court approval](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/fatal-dependency-apportionment-outline.md) | Court document | Red | Outline for asking the court to direct each dependant's share of a wrongful-death settlement in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. The lawyer writes anything that is filed. |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*