A Positive Duty to Rescue and Medical Practitioners: A Review of the Current Position in Australia and a Comparison...

Providing medical assistance to an injured, unrelated third party is an act often viewed positively by society. A tension in tort law that has arisen in most jurisdictions is whether such a duty should be imposed on certain classes of individuals or on society as a whole. In Australia this issue has arisen in cases such as Lowns v Woods [1996] Aust Torts Reports 81-376 and Dekker v Medical Board of Australia [2014] WASCA 216, which have posed the question as to whether there is a legally enforceable duty for medical practitioners to render such assistance in certain circumstances. This article examines the current position of the Australian law on whether a duty to rescue exists generally, or in regards to medical practitioners specifically. A review and comparison of the Australian position with respect to other common law and civil jurisdictions is also undertaken.