Review a New South Wales release before the client signs
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the draft release, extract any confidentiality clause, any apology, the people and bodies released, and the amount. Do not rewrite the deed and do not advise the client to sign.
- What the lawyer must review
- The client signs this deed. Check every release, confidentiality clause and apology.
- Do not treat a deed signed now as meeting the timing words in s 7C.
- Where the defendant is the State, read principles 14 and 16 before the clause is accepted.
- 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 settlement deed the client is asked to sign.
Produce. A marked clause list from the draft release, for the lawyer's advice before the client signs.
Have ready. The draft deed; The defendants actually sued; Whether the defendant is a State agency.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The draft is to be signed this week and contains a confidentiality clause. The defendant is a department. The tool marks the clause, notes principle 14, and does not say s 7C applies to a deed signed now.
Stop and hand it back when
- The tool advises the client to sign.
- The tool says Part 1C will reopen this deed.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the draft release, extract any confidentiality clause, any apology, the people and bodies released, and the amount. Do not rewrite the deed and do not advise the client to sign. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- An affected agreement under s 7C was made before s 6A or Part 1B commenced, in the circumstances that section describes. A deed signed today does not meet those timing words.
- Principle 14 says a confidentiality clause is considered case by case and should not stop the claimant discussing the claim and the claims process. Principle 16 says an apology should be offered where the State has acted improperly.
- The principles are for State agencies. A prior court payment related to the abuse may still be deducted from a later redress payment and adjusted to today's value.
- Leave Medicare, Centrelink and NDIS clearances to the firm's existing compensation-recovery work.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Redress Scheme and a civil claim: comparison checklist | Checklist | AI use Yellow | A comparison, for a survivor and the lawyer, of a National Redress Scheme offer and a civil claim: components, the six-month decision, the release, a decline, and a Victorian set-aside limit. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 7C · 2026-10-23
- NSW guiding principles for agencies responding to civil claims for child abuse · 2026-10-23
- National Redress Scheme, redress payments · 2026-10-23
Do not tell the client this deed can later be set aside under Part 1C.
If this is used in a Supreme Court document, read Practice Note SC Gen 23. The Court's page records amendments that came into effect on 3 February 2025. The note itself was not opened, so no clause is quoted.
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).