The Supreme Court of Tasmania found the State of Tasmania liable under both non-delegable duty and vicarious liability for the rape and ongoing sexual abuse of a 16-year-old student by her teacher, applying the High Court's decision in AA v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle [2026] HCA 2. The Court accepted the plaintiff's account over the second defendant's denials, finding that inconsistencies in the plaintiff's evidence (including a significant retraction regarding a photograph) did not destroy her overall credibility, while the second defendant's evidence was undermined by matters not put to the plaintiff in cross-examination and inherent implausibilities in his own account. The Court awarded $275,000 in general damages for PTSD and borderline personality disorder, $150,000 in aggravated damages, $200,000 in exemplary damages (the second defendant not having been criminally punished), together with damages for loss of earning capacity arising from the plaintiff's disrupted career trajectory.
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