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Topic Date User

QUT and affiliates sued for $8m Kangaroo Point 18-May-2017 At 5:58:58 PM patto

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On 18/05/2017 tnd wrote:
>Both the annual membership form and individual trip sign-on sheets now
>exhaustively list the ways that the activity can maim or kill you. If you
>willingly acknowledge that, then there's no use calling a lawyer if you
>get hurt.

I'm sorry but that pro-bono law advice is worth as much as was paid. Simply put acknowledging risks and signing waivers does not recuse the duty of care clubs/people have towards participants. In Australia in particular most such waivers aren't worth the paper they are written on.

Regarding this event. This isn't the first or the last of such occurrences. Volunteer clubs are under threat due to the above reasons. "Experienced" abseiler/climber, lets go of rope and sues the biggest pockets available. In Australia they generally win because the notion of risk acceptance doesn't exist.

**No blame directed towards injured parties. They are making a rational decision based on their life needs. But the damage that it does to the club community is immense.