Damages for breach of contract in NSW

In brief - Contractors claiming damages for a terminated contract must properly articulate and document their claim

The Supreme Court decision in Airloom Holdings Pty Ltd v Thales Australia Ltd [2011] NSWSC 1513 demonstrates that contractors claiming damages for wrongful termination of a contract must be clear on the sort of damages they are seeking, must have all contemporaneous documents available to support the claim and must know if GST is applicable.

Onus to establish damages is on the party claiming them

As part of establishing that damages are payable, contractors need to specify what the damages are for. This could be:

loss of profit expenses to be recouped wasted expenditure compensatory damages loss of a chance Termination of services contract in Airloom v Thales

Airloom Holdings Pty Ltd v Thales Australia Ltd is a case concerning the termination of Airloom's services contract with Thales.

The matter was initially before the Local Court. In those proceedings, Airloom sought damages against Thales in the sum of $60,000 for breach of contract comprised of claims for:

$31,200 as the contract price for the supply of services $25,882 as the profit margin for the supply of goods Airloom submitted that it should be put in the same position it would have been in, if the contract had been performed to completion.

Local Court finds no...