Tuesday 17 February 2026 marked another landmark decision for child-abuse survivors with the Victorian Parliament passing the Justice Legislation Amendment (Vicarious Liability for Child Abuse) Act 2025 (Vic) (Act).
The Act expands the doctrine of vicarious liability to relationships ‘akin’ to the employment relationship reversing the effect of the High Court’s decision in Bird v DP [2024] HCA 41, which had found that the doctrine could only apply where the relationship between an institution and an individual was strictly that of employer and employee – again strengthening the prospects of victims’ claims following the High Court ruling in AA v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle (AA).1
What is Vicarious Liability?
At common law vicarious liability is defined as the principle whereby an employer may be liable for the tortious conduct of an employee, occurring in the course and scope of the employee’s employment even if the employer itself was entirely blameless.2
Bird v DP decided that churches could not be held vicariously liable for abuse committed by priests and other individuals, who were not considered to be employees under the common law.
Despite its doctrinal justification, the High Court recognised the ‘harsh’ quality of the common law as it applied to vicarious liability but said if any change was to be made it was for parliaments to do it. The Act intends to ameliorate the effect of the common law doctrine of vicarious liability at least as far as institutional abuse claims are concerned.
The law and how it applies to organisations
Organisations, including religious organisations, will now be vicariously liable for the physical or sexual abuse of a child by an employee or an individual ‘akin to an employee’ of an institution for which it is the nominated legal entity for such abuse claims, where the institution supplied the occasion for the abuse of the child by the employee or the individual.
From 13 November 2024 to 25 February 2026, the Act will apply retrospectively to any claim of child physical or sexual abuse against the organisation that was, during that period:3
- Settled,
- determined by a court,
- commenced but not settled or determined before the commencement of the
The Act, therefore, expands the statutory mechanism for setting aside deeds or judgments to include claims finalised during the period in which plaintiffs could not rely on the doctrine of vicarious liability to make institutions liable for the acts of individuals who were not strictly employees of the institutions.
What’s next and how will it operate?
The Act received royal assent on 24 February 2026 and commences 25 February 2026. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss further.
2 Prince Alfred College Incorporated v ADC [2016] 258 CLR 134, [40]-[41].
3 Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) s 27T.
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The litigation & Dispute Resolution Team
