Bondi Beach Foods Pty Ltd v Chadwick

The New South Wales Court of Appeal considered a negligence claim brought by Mr Chadwick against Bondi Beach Foods Pty Ltd (trading as Bucket List) and Crossguard Security Pty Ltd. Mr Chadwick suffered injuries when he was struck by another patron at licensed premises operated by Bucket List, for which Crossguard provided security services. The dispute centred on whether the defendants owed and breached a duty of care to Mr Chadwick, and if so, whether that breach caused his injuries.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether Bucket List and Crossguard had breached their respective duties of care to Mr Chadwick. This involved determining whether they had knowledge of the aggressive character of the patrons who ultimately assaulted Mr Chadwick, whether those patrons should have been excluded from the premises before Mr Chadwick's arrival, and whether the defendants should have intervened to separate Mr Chadwick from the other patrons after an altercation commenced. The court also considered the distinction between RSA marshals and licensed security guards, and whether the defendants breached their duty by not having licensed security guards present. Causation was a key issue, specifically whether Mr Chadwick had established that the patrons would have been excluded before his arrival had the defendants not breached their duties, and whether there was sufficient time for licensed security guards to intervene after the altercation began. Finally, the court examined the extent of Mr Chadwick's contributory negligence and the nature and extent of the breaches of duty by both defendants, as well as a challenge to the assessment of economic loss for non-compliance with section 13 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW).

The Court of Appeal allowed Bucket List's appeal in part and Crossguard's cross-appeal in part, while dismissing Mr Chadwick's cross-appeal. The court set aside the original verdict for the plaintiff against both defendants and substituted a reduced judgment amount of $112,941.50, to be taken to have been entered on 9 March 2023. An order made on 20 March 2023 was also set aside. The parties were granted leave to file and serve agreed orders regarding costs within 14 days, or in the absence of agreement, short submissions on costs.