---
title: "Review a New South Wales release before the client signs"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/review-a-proposed-release-before-the-client-signs/new-south-wales"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-AB20261023-10-NSW"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["NSW"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Review a New South Wales release before the client signs

> 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.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/review-a-proposed-release-before-the-client-signs/new-south-wales  
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 | 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. |
| Written for | New South Wales |
| Applies to | [Review a proposed release before the client signs](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/review-a-proposed-release-before-the-client-signs.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

The client signs the deed, so the lawyer checks this draft. The tool only extracts clauses.

- What the AI does: 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 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. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Leave Medicare, Centrelink and NDIS clearances to the firm's existing compensation-recovery work.

## Notes

- 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).

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: New South Wales. A settlement deed the client is asked to sign.

**Deliverable**: A marked clause list from the draft release, for the lawyer's advice before the client signs.

**Inputs**

- The draft deed
- The defendants actually sued
- Whether the defendant is a State agency

**Example**: 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 escalate when**

- The tool advises the client to sign.
- The tool says Part 1C will reopen this deed.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 7C](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cla2002161/s7c.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [NSW guiding principles for agencies responding to civil claims for child abuse](https://dcj.nsw.gov.au/documents/legal-and-justice/lsc/nsw-government-guiding-principles-for-government-agencies-responding-to-civil-claims-for-child-abuse.pdf) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [National Redress Scheme, redress payments](https://www.nationalredress.gov.au/apply/what-offer-redress/redress-payments) (checked 2026-10-23)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [National Redress Scheme and a civil claim: comparison checklist](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/checklist-redress-scheme-versus-civil-claim.md) | Checklist | 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.

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