Work or play – are professional sports recreational activities?

Some people are lucky enough to make a living by engaging in professional sports. Does the law treat amateurs who suffer injuries differently from those who pursue sports as a profession? Two conflicting decisions by superior courts in New South Wales and Tasmania have thrown the law on this point into disarray.

The defence

Under the civil liability legislation in most parts of Australia, defendants are able to establish a defence to negligence where they can prove that the harm suffered is the result of the materialisation of an obvious risk of a dangerous recreational activity engaged in by the person suffering harm. Although legislation in the various States is not uniform, there are substantial similarities across most jurisdictions.