Harriton v Stephens, Waller v James & Anor, Waller v Hoolahan

The High Court of Australia considered appeals from the Supreme Court of New South Wales in three related matters: *Harriton v Stephens*, *Waller v James & Anor*, and *Waller v Hoolahan*. The central dispute in each case concerned claims for damages for wrongful birth, brought by children against medical practitioners. The plaintiffs alleged that negligent medical advice or treatment had caused their mothers to conceive them, and that they had suffered loss and damage as a result of being born with disabilities.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether a child could maintain an action in tort for damages for the injury of being born disabled, where the disability was not caused by the defendant's negligence but rather the conception and birth of the child. This involved determining whether the law recognised a cause of action for wrongful birth brought by the child, and if so, what damages were recoverable. The court also considered the principles of causation and the assessment of damages in such circumstances.

The High Court, by majority, held that a child cannot maintain an action in tort for damages for the injury of being born disabled. The majority reasoned that the law does not recognise a right to compensation for the mere fact of being born, nor does it permit a comparison between the condition of being born with a disability and the hypothetical condition of never having been born. Such a claim would require the court to assess damages by comparing the value of a life with a disability to the value of no life at all, a task the court found to be legally and philosophically untenable. The court affirmed that the tort of negligence requires proof of a duty of care, breach, causation, and damage, and that in these cases, the damage alleged was not a legally recognised injury.

Consequently, the appeals were dismissed, and the orders of the Supreme Court of New South Wales were affirmed.