Roberts v Westpac Banking Corporation [2015] ACTSC 397

The duty of care owed by a business to its customers attending its premises is well established in relation to the safety of the premises. A more contentious area concerns the involvement of entrants creating a risk of injury to others on the premises, and in particular through their criminal acts.

The December 2015 ACT Supreme Court case of Roberts v Westpac Banking Corporation [2015] ACTSC 397 involved examination of the duty of care owed by an occupier to prevent harm to entrants to commercial premises by a stranger engaging in criminal activity. The case is likely to be of particular interest to all businesses (and their insurers) in which robbery is a risk associated with normal trading.