Wijethunge v Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited

In the matter of *Wijethunge v Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited*, heard before Judge Brown, the plaintiff, Mr. Wijethunge, brought proceedings against the defendant, Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited (ARTCL), alleging negligence. The dispute arose from injuries sustained by Mr. Wijethunge, a contractor, while working on a railway line managed by ARTCL. Mr. Wijethunge claimed that ARTCL failed to provide a safe system of work, leading to his injuries.

The central legal issue before the court was whether ARTCL owed a duty of care to Mr. Wijethunge, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. Specifically, the court had to determine if ARTCL's actions or omissions in managing the railway corridor and the work being undertaken by contractors constituted negligence, thereby causing the plaintiff's injuries. This involved an assessment of the control ARTCL exercised over the site and the nature of the work performed by Mr. Wijethunge.

Judge Brown found that ARTCL, as the occupier and manager of the railway land, owed a non-delegable duty of care to contractors working on its premises. The court reasoned that ARTCL had sufficient control over the site and the activities conducted there to be held responsible for ensuring the safety of those working on its land, even if the immediate cause of the injury was the conduct of a third party or the contractor's own employer. The court applied principles of occupiers' liability and the duty owed by a principal to an independent contractor, finding that ARTCL had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the work environment, thereby breaching its duty of care to Mr. Wijethunge. The court concluded that this breach caused or contributed to the plaintiff's injuries.