Civil Liability Act 2002

A person practising a profession (a professional) does not incur a liability in negligence arising from the provision of a professional service if it is established that the professional acted in a manner that (at the time the service was provided) was widely accepted in Australia by peer professional opinion as competent professional practice.

However, peer professional opinion cannot be relied on for the purposes of this section if the court considers that the opinion is irrational.

The fact that there are differing peer professional opinions widely accepted in Australia concerning a matter does not prevent any one or more (or all) of those opinions being relied on for the purposes of this section.

Peer professional opinion does not have to be universally accepted to be considered widely accepted.