Council of the City of Sydney v Bishop

The Council of the City of Sydney (appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a judgment of the Supreme Court which found the Council liable for negligence in relation to injuries sustained by Ms Bishop (respondent). Ms Bishop had tripped on a kerb in a pedestrian precinct, suffering personal injury. The central dispute concerned whether the Council owed a duty of care to warn pedestrians of the height differential of the kerb and, if so, whether its failure to do so constituted a breach of that duty, leading to Ms Bishop's injuries.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the risk posed by the kerb was so obvious that no warning was necessary, and whether the absence of yellow highlighting on the kerb amounted to a breach of any duty of care owed by the Council. Furthermore, the Court had to consider whether, even if a breach occurred, the lack of a warning was causative of Ms Bishop's harm, particularly given her awareness of the hazard and her admitted failure to look down at the time of the incident.

The Court allowed the appeal, reasoning that the risk of tripping on a kerb in a pedestrian area was an obvious one, and that the Council had no duty to warn of such a commonplace hazard. The Court found that the absence of yellow highlighting did not constitute a breach of duty, as it was not reasonably foreseeable that such an omission would cause injury to a pedestrian who was aware of the kerb's presence. Consequently, the Court concluded that the Council's actions or omissions were not causative of Ms Bishop's injuries. The judgment and orders made at first instance were set aside, and judgment was entered for the Council, with Ms Bishop ordered to pay the Council's costs.