Set out the section 5B precaution questions for a New South Wales claim
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the pleaded risk and the precautions said to have been omitted, build a question table in the order of section 5B. Do not decide whether the defendant was negligent, and do not use section 5B where section 3B excludes it.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether each precaution question is met. The tool does not decide negligence
- Section 5B can apply to a motor accident. It does not apply to work injury damages
- Work through foreseeability, a risk that is not insignificant, and the reasonable person
- Then probability, seriousness, burden and social utility
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. A New South Wales negligence claim to which section 5B applies
Produce. A section 5B question table, with no finding of negligence.
Have ready. The risk pleaded and the precautions said to have been omitted; Whether the claim is a motor accident, a work injury, or another claim; The facts relevant to probability, seriousness, burden and social utility.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The precaution is a warning sign at a council reserve. The table sets out the four section 5B(1) and (2) questions and leaves each answer blank for the lawyer.
Stop and hand it back when
- The output says the defendant was negligent or was not negligent.
- The claim is statutory workers compensation or work injury damages.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the pleaded risk and the precautions said to have been omitted, build a question table in the order of section 5B. Do not decide whether the defendant was negligent, and do not use section 5B where section 3B excludes it. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Section 5B(1) requires that the risk was foreseeable, that the risk was not insignificant, and that a reasonable person in the person's position would have taken the precautions.
- Section 5B(2) lists probability, the likely seriousness of the harm, the burden of the precautions, and the social utility of the activity.
- Section 5B is in Division 2 of Part 1A. Section 3B(2)(a) applies Divisions 1 to 4 and 8 of Part 1A to motor accidents, so section 5B can apply to a motor accident award.
- Section 3B(1)(f) and (g) take work injury damages, other than Part 1B, and statutory workers compensation outside the Act. Do not use section 5B for those claims.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter of instruction to an engineer | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an engineer for the condition, the mechanism and the available precautions in a plaintiff claim, with the precautions section named by the lawyer and no conclusion on negligence. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) section 5B · 2026-10-23
- Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) section 3B · 2026-10-23
- NSW legislation: Civil Liability Act 2002, current version · 2026-10-23
A roads authority claim may also raise section 45. That is a separate question from section 5B and is dealt with on its own.
The wording is the section opened on AustLII. The current Act on the NSW legislation website still lists section 5B.