Index prior complaints for the New South Wales reasonable-precautions question
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the complaint files the lawyer has already collected, build a table with the date, the author, the person named, and the document and page. Do not decide that a complaint proves reasonable precautions were not taken.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide which complaints are relevant to reasonable precautions under s 6F.
- For this duty, child abuse is sexual or physical abuse, not an act lawful at the time.
- Connected psychological abuse is outside that definition unless you say otherwise.
- Keep the file in the firm's system. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply.
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 working index for a s 6F claim.
Produce. A source-tagged index of prior complaints and personnel notes already on the file.
Have ready. Complaint files the lawyer has collected; Personnel notes; Whether the complaint is of sexual or physical abuse.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: A file note describes humiliation and no physical or sexual act. The tool marks it as outside the s 6F definition unless the lawyer says otherwise. It does not drop the document.
Stop and hand it back when
- A row has no page.
- The index uses the s 6A definition for a s 6F question.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the complaint files the lawyer has already collected, build a table with the date, the author, the person named, and the document and page. Do not decide that a complaint proves reasonable precautions were not taken. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Section 6F(3) presumes breach only if the plaintiff establishes that an associated individual perpetrated the abuse in connection with the organisation's responsibility for the child, unless the organisation establishes that it took reasonable precautions. Section 6F(4) lets the court take into account matters including the organisation's resources, its level of control over the individual, and whether it complied with any applicable standards, however described, in respect of child safety.
- For this duty, child abuse means sexual or physical abuse and does not include an act that was lawful at the time.
- Complaints that go only to connected psychological abuse are outside that definition unless the lawyer says otherwise.
- Every row cites a document and a page. The table is an index, not a finding.
Sources
- Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 6F · 2026-10-23
- Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) s 6A · 2026-10-23
- Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 (NSW) r 9.1 · 2026-10-23
Do not use the s 6A definition of child abuse for this index. Section 6A includes connected abuse. Section 6F does not.
Do not send the index outside the firm.
Records on this file stay in a firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply, and a breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).