What you need to know if you’ve been injured on a footpath in Victoria

Every year in Victoria, people suffer significant injuries after tripping on uneven footpaths, cracked pavements, or broken kerbs. These incidents might seem straightforward, but when the area is managed by a local council, the legal process can be complex.

In this article, we’ll explain who is responsible for maintaining public walkways, why measuring the defect is so important, and what steps to take if you’re considering a claim under Victoria’s public liability laws.

Measuring the defect matters

When it comes to footpath injury claims, the size and shape of the defect can make or break your case. Courts and liability experts rely heavily on the exact measurements to decide if the council should have noticed and repaired a defect.

In Victoria, a height difference or depression in a footpath generally needs to be at least 20mm (2cm) before it’s considered a defect they need to fix. Anything smaller is often seen as a minor irregularity that councils aren’t legally required to fix.

That’s why it’s important to take clear photographs and measurements immediately after your fall. If the council happens to do their repairs after your injury but before you collect evidence, you might not be able to prove why you were injured.

When recording a defect, make sure to:

• take close-up and wide-angle photos that show both the defect and surrounding area

• use a ruler or measuring tape in your photo to show the exact height or depth difference

• note the exact location, including the street name and any nearby landmarks or house numbers, so your public liability lawyer can match it to council maps and maintenance records.

These measurements and records form the foundation of the evidence needed to prove negligence.

Understanding Victoria’s “Road Management Plan” defence

In Victoria, local councils are responsible for inspecting and maintaining public footpaths, shared pathways, kerbs, and gutters within their municipality. This duty includes identifying hazards such as:

• cracks

• uneven paving

• lifted tree roots

• broken concrete that could pose a risk to pedestrians.

Councils manage these responsibilities through what’s known as a Road Management Plan (RMP). This document outlines how often inspections should occur, what standards apply to repairs and how quickly hazards must be addressed once reported.

When someone is injured, the council’s compliance with its RMP often becomes a key issue. If the council can show it followed the inspection and maintenance schedule set out in its RMP, it can argue it met its legal obligations. However, if records show inspections were missed or repairs were delayed beyond what the plan allows, it may help prove they were negligent.

Where the RMP defence does and doesn’t hold up

If a person trips on a defect just before the next scheduled inspection, the council may argue it complied with its plan and therefore did not act negligently.

However, this defence isn’t absolute. A council can still be found negligent if:

• the RMP itself was unreasonable or inadequately enforced

• the council failed to follow its own inspection or repair timeframes

• there is evidence the defect had existed for a long period without attention

• the defect was so large or obvious that it should have been identified earlier, even without a report.

A council’s RMP can be obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request – a way of accessing government information. And with it, you can check whether they maintained their inspection schedules, or if any prior complaints had been made about the danger. This could all significantly impact the likelihood of an RMP defence being successful or not.

What injuries might not be worth making a claim

While you should always consider if your situation is worth seeking compensation, there may be times when it won’t be sensible to continue. That might include when:

• the council can prove their maintenance schedule was reasonable and actioned

• the injuries you sustained didn’t result in significant pain or costs (such as missing work or significant medical costs)

• the council could prove you were responsible for your injuries (for example, you had already found a raised tile and you were doing jumps off it on a skateboard).

This can obviously be difficult to determine yourself if you’ve never navigated a public liability case before. That’s where our Public Liability team can help you decide if you have a case worth moving forward with.

How Shine Lawyers can help

Injuries on public footpaths can be serious, both physically and financially. Navigating a claim against a local council involves strict legal tests, time limits and technical evidence, including maintenance records and Road Management Plans.

At Shine Lawyers, our Victorian Public Liability team understands how to manage these complexities. We can follow through with FOI requests and help you determine whether the council followed its inspection and repair obligations, if your injuries meet the significant injury threshold, and then help you gather the evidence needed to build a strong case.

In essence, we can handle every step of the process so you can focus on your recovery. And all the while, you carry the comfort of us operating on a No Win No Fee* basis, which means you won’t pay our legal fees unless your claim is successful.

If you’ve been injured on a public footpath or council-managed area, contact Shine Lawyers today for an obligation -free consultation to discuss your options and find out if you may have a viable claim.

*Conditions apply