Shire of Perth v O'Keefe

The Shire of Perth appealed to the High Court of Australia against a judgment of the Supreme Court of Western Australia which had awarded damages to Mr O'Keefe for injuries he sustained when a motor vehicle he was driving collided with a tree which had fallen onto the road. The Shire of Perth was the local government authority responsible for the maintenance of the road.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Shire of Perth had breached its duty of care to road users by failing to take reasonable steps to prevent the tree from falling onto the road or to warn users of the danger. This involved considering the extent of the Shire's knowledge of the tree's condition and the foreseeability of the risk of it falling.

The High Court held that the Shire of Perth was not liable. Their Honours found that there was no evidence to suggest that the Shire had any knowledge, actual or constructive, of the dangerous condition of the tree. The tree appeared to be healthy and there were no outward signs of decay or instability that would have alerted the Shire to the risk of it falling. Consequently, the Shire had not failed to take reasonable precautions, as no reasonable authority would have foreseen the danger in the circumstances. The appeal was therefore allowed.