To ensure the damage element of a negligence claim is satisfied,
a plaintiff must prove the loss was caused by the act or omission
of the defendant. With the enactment of Australia's various
Civil Liability Acts, the test for factual causation is
the 'necessary condition' test. The plaintiff must
establish that the alleged breach of duty by the defendant was a
necessary condition of the occurrence of the harm.
The High Court in Strong v Woolworths Ltd1
has stated that this necessary condition test is a
'statutory statement of the "but for" test of
causation'. The 'but for' test determines
whether the harm suffered by a plaintiff was caused by the breach
of the defendant's duty, on the basis the plaintiff would not
have suffered harm 'but for' the defendant's breach.
The test requires a relatively straightforward question: but for
the defendant's negligence, would the plaintiff's damage
have occurred?
