A plaintiff claiming pure psychiatric injury must establish that a person of normal fortitude would have suffered psychiatric injury from the defendant's negligent act, unless the defendant had knowledge of the plaintiff's particular susceptibility. The eggshell psyche rule applies only after this threshold is met. The psychiatric injury must also be caused by 'shock' in the sense of a sudden sensory perception, not by mere knowledge of a distressing fact or gradual deterioration. The English distinction between primary and secondary victims has not been adopted in Australia.
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