Contemporary Australian Tort Law

In a tort action, if the plaintiff’s claims are successful and no relevant defences are available to the defendant, the plaintiff will be entitled to an order or award by the court for an appropriate remedy. Such judicial remedies include:

• damages

• injunctions

• declarations.

If the plaintiff seeks one of these remedies, the plaintiff must plead the details of the loss sustained (or that will be sustained), produce evidence to support them, and prove them on the balance of probabilities. Generally, the plaintiff bears the onus of proving such matters.

In addition, self-help remedies are available and include:

• eviction of trespassers and re-entry of land

• self-defence

• abatement

• apology.

  The focus of this chapter will be on judicial remedies, especially damages.