The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur does not apply to the failure of complex manufactured equipment such as an air compressor, because such equipment is not familiar to the ordinary decision-maker and there is ample scope for speculation as to the cause of failure. Expert evidence is necessary to establish that the failure was due to negligence in design or manufacture. The question whether a manufacturer of a chattel owes a duty of care to an ultimate purchaser to avoid pure economic loss remains unresolved in Australian law, though the weight of authority suggests no such duty exists absent special circumstances.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 18 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 18 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.