Connecting with Australian Tort Law

Dr Marco Rizzi is Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Centre for Health Law and Policy at University of Western Australia Law School, where he teaches in the areas of torts, health law and policy, and risk regulation. His scholarly work critically examines the interface between regulatory frameworks and private law remedies, with a particular focus on the regulation of risks and their implications for liability regimes concerning therapeutic goods, from medical devices to vaccines. He is a chief investigator on multiple national interdisciplinary projects dedicated to advancing understanding in complex areas of health and technology law, ethics, and governance. Kate Offer is a Senior Lecturer at Curtin Law School and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia. She primarily teaches in the areas of torts and evidence. While at UWA, she created the innovative undergraduate unit, 'Law for Everyday Lives', designed to equip students with practical legal knowledge for everyday decision making. Kate is the co-author of Field & Offer, Western Australian Evidence Law, and her research focuses on legal education. From 2013 to 2023, Kate served as Chair of the Disciplinary Committee of the Teachers Registration Board of Western Australia, and was a board member from 2018 to 2023, contributing her legal expertise to the regulation and governance of the teaching profession. Kate's teaching has been recognised at the faculty, university and national levels, including receiving an Australian Award for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Dr Jamie Walvisch is a Senior Lecturer and a member of the Centre for Health Law and Policy at the University of Western Australia Law School, where he teaches torts, evidence and criminal law. Before joining UWA, he held academic appointments at Monash and Melbourne Law Schools, and previously worked as a research and policy officer at the Victorian Law Reform Commission, the Australian Institute of Criminology, and the Judicial College of Victoria. Jamie is a leading scholar on the intersection of mental health and criminal law. He is the co-editor of two major international collections: The Future of Mental Health, Disability and Criminal Law and Feminist Legislation: Australia. He has led numerous law reform projects and played a key role in developing the Victorian Criminal Charge Book, a widely used judicial resource. His teaching has been recognised with multiple awards, including an Australian Award for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Julia Davis is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Adelaide University and is now retired after many years teaching torts at the University of Tasmania and the University of South Australia.

• Part I. The Nature of Tort Law, and How to Study It: 1. Introducing tort law and its challenges; 2. Understanding the law of torts; 3. Torts techniques: legal argument and practical problem solving; 4. Study strategies; Part II. The Torts: 5. Trespass to the person; 6. Trespass to land and personal property; 7. Defences to the intentional torts; 8. Nuisance; 9. Defamation; 10. Introduction to negligence; 11. Negligence: duty of care; 12. Negligence: breach; 13. Negligence: causation; 14. Special topics in negligence; 15. Defences to negligence; 16. Vicarious liability and non-delegable duty; 17. Doing justice: principles of damages.