Schools - Non-Delegable Duty of Care

Summary - The non-delegable duty of care owed by a school to its students continues while a student is on an excursion.

In November 2011, his Honour Judge Elkaim in the NSW District Court found both a school and a ski resort liable for a back injury sustained by a school student while the student was participating in a skiing lesson organised by the ski resort during a school excursion (see Harris v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Sydney [2011] NSWDC 172). While it may seem surprising that a school could be held liable for an injury to a student sustained during a school excursion in an activity supervised by a third party in a field very different from school studies, this result arises from a legal concept known as a "non-delegable duty of care".

"Non-delegable duties of care" arise when there is a special relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant where the defendant is in a special position with respect to the plaintiff (see Ellis v Wallsend District Hospital (1989) 17 NSWLR 553). The easiest way to explain the relationship is with examples arising out of everyday life. The law provides that the following relationships give rise to a non-delegable duty of...