Tema v State of Western Australia

Tema (the applicant) brought proceedings against the State of Western Australia (the respondent) in the High Court of Australia. The dispute concerned the applicant's claim for damages for personal injury sustained while he was a prisoner in Western Australia. The applicant alleged that the respondent breached its duty of care owed to him as a prisoner, resulting in his injuries.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the respondent owed a duty of care to prisoners to take reasonable steps to prevent them from harming themselves or being harmed by other prisoners. Specifically, the court considered the scope of the duty of care owed by a jailer to a prisoner, and whether that duty extended to protecting prisoners from the foreseeable risks of violence from other inmates.

The High Court, comprising Hayne and Kiefel JJ, affirmed that a jailer owes a duty of care to prisoners to take reasonable steps to prevent them from suffering harm. This duty encompasses protecting prisoners from foreseeable risks of harm, including those posed by other inmates. The court reasoned that the relationship between a jailer and a prisoner is one of such a nature that the law imposes a duty of care. The respondent's failure to take reasonable steps to protect the applicant from the foreseeable risk of harm from other prisoners constituted a breach of this duty.

The High Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and remitting the matter to that court for determination of the assessment of damages.