Lynch v Victims Compensation Fund Corporation and Anor

The applicants, Mr and Mrs Lynch, sought to recover damages for nervous shock suffered by Mrs Lynch as a result of the death of her son, Mr. Lynch, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident. The respondents were the Victims Compensation Fund Corporation and the driver of the vehicle, Mr. Davies. The Lynches sought to recover damages from the Corporation under the *Victims Compensation Act 1996* (NSW) and from Mr. Davies in negligence. The matter came before the High Court of Australia on appeal from the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Lynches were entitled to recover damages for nervous shock from the Victims Compensation Fund Corporation. This required the Court to consider the scope of the definition of "victim" under the *Victims Compensation Act 1996* (NSW) and, in particular, whether a parent who suffers nervous shock as a result of the death of their child in a motor vehicle accident, where the child was the driver and solely responsible for the accident, could be considered a "victim" for the purposes of the Act. A secondary issue concerned the Lynches' claim in negligence against Mr. Davies.

The High Court held that the Lynches were not entitled to recover damages from the Victims Compensation Fund Corporation. Their Honours, Hayne and Bell JJ, reasoned that the definition of "victim" in the *Victims Compensation Act 1996* (NSW) did not extend to a parent who suffers nervous shock as a result of the death of their child, where the child was the driver and solely responsible for the accident. The Act was intended to compensate victims of crime, and the circumstances of the accident did not fall within the ambit of the Act. The Court also found that the Lynches' claim in negligence against Mr. Davies failed because there was no evidence that Mr. Davies owed a duty of care to the Lynches in the circumstances of the accident.

The appeal was dismissed.