Tyneside Property Management Pty Ltd v Hammersmith Management Pty Ltd

Tyneside Property Management Pty Ltd was involved in a legal dispute with Hammersmith Management Pty Ltd, which was heard in the court. The primary issue revolved around the admissibility of certain evidence, specifically a report by a consultant engineer, in the context of a business records exception to the hearsay rule. Additionally, the court had to consider whether an opinion contained within documents admissible under the business records exception also needed to satisfy an exception to the opinion rule.

The court's task was to determine if the report prepared by the consultant engineer qualified as a business record under the exception to the hearsay rule and whether the opinions contained within the documents were admissible under the specialised knowledge exception to the opinion rule. The court also needed to address whether non-compliance with the expert witness code impacted the admissibility of the expert opinion.

The court found that the consultant engineer's report was part of the business records of one of the defendant companies and a copy was retained by the consultant, thereby satisfying the criteria for the business records exception to the hearsay rule. The court further held that opinions within documents that are admissible under the business records exception also needed to satisfy an exception to the opinion rule, in this case, the specialised knowledge exception. The court ruled that the non-compliance with the expert witness code did not affect the admissibility of the expert opinion. Consequently, the report and opinions were deemed admissible.

The court made a final order allowing the admission of the consultant engineer's report and the opinions contained within the documents, subject to the conditions of the business records and specialised knowledge exceptions.