If you are injured by a ‘roo while having a round, who is liable for your injuries?
“The short answer is the golf club, provided you are legally on the course and have not been reckless,” lawyer and legal expert, Mr Mathew Nott, said.
“For example, if you were affected by alcohol the legal situation could change.
“Generally, a club has a duty of care to its patrons, and if the club has failed to adequately warn golfers of the presence of kangaroos and the risk they pose, the club could be held liable.
“A teenager was badly injured by a kangaroo in 1996 and the NSW Court of Appeal ruled in Shorten v Grafton District Golf Club that the club had a duty to warn people on the course about the dangers, so that is pretty a fair starting point.”
Thousands of Eastern Grey kangaroos have moved onto golf courses as there are few predators, lush grass and an abundance of fresh water.
With the seasonal spike in the number of golfers, interactions between man and macropod on the courses become more frequent.
Kangaroos are normally docile but can become habituated to humans and react aggressively if they feel threatened.
Hard data is hard to come by but a research study in the decade to the end of 2018 reported that in the Coffs Harbour northern beaches region, there were 40 attacks/serious threats.
In 2022, Arundel Hills Golf Club, a Queensland course, was forced to shut down after a series of kangaroo attacks that left victims with serious injuries.
A 77-year old man was fatally mauled by his pet kangaroo in Western Australia in 2022.
The Office of the Environment and Heritage reports that each year about five people are treated for kangaroo-related injuries.
Consider a kangaroo weighs up to 95 kgs and can stand 230cm tall.
A golf cart weighs up to 500 kgs, carries two people, and can hit top speeds of around 24kms/hr.The risk of injury to golf cart, man and beast is high.
According to Golf Australia, all members of an affiliated golf club are covered by players' personal liability insurance.
This means that if players are injured while on the course, the club is liable and the club’s insurer will cover the cost of damages.
However, the same does not apply to players that aren’t members and have merely paid a green fee to play for the day.
In conjunction with Golf Australia, insurer Marsh has developed a stand-alone insurance cover for green fee, or guest, playing players, which golf clubs have the option to purchase.
This policy protects non-member golfers who have paid a green fee if they are injured on a golf course, or by golfers. It also protects third parties who may have been injured by non-member golfers.
If club’s do not hold this insurance, they can be held vicariously liable for injuries caused by non-member golfers if the non-member golfer does not have adequate insurance cover.
The same scenario applies to damages to golf buggies except if the damage is due to your own negligence, in which case you will be liable.
For a successful personal injury claim, the golf club must breach its duty of care, the breach must have caused the harm, and it must have been foreseeable that the golf club's conduct could result in harm.
However, if you engineer you encounter with a kangaroo, fines may apply as they are a native protected species.
The Crimes Act 1900 makes it an offence to kill or seriously injure an animal. The maximum penalty for this offence is five years imprisonment.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 makes it an offence to be cruel to an animal, with a $4,400.00 maximum, fine or one year imprisonment, or both.
For further legal information contact Nott and Co Lawyers: www.nottandcolawyers.com.au
