Our goal is to help people in the best way possible. this is a basic principle in every case and cause for success. contact us today for a free consultation.
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When a professional you trusted gets it wrong — badly wrong — the fallout can reach into every corner of your life. Lost money you can’t get back. A health outcome that didn’t have to happen. A legal matter that slipped through the cracks. Whatever the situation, you deserve honest answers about whether you have a claim, and what comes next.
Fair Go Australia is a specialist professional negligence legal claim assistance platform. We work exclusively with claimants — people who have been harmed by professional failure — and we do it on a no-win, no-fee basis. If you’re in Adelaide and wondering whether you have a case, start with a free evaluation. There’s no obligation, and no cost.
Professional negligence is a specific legal wrong. It happens when someone who holds themselves out as having specialist skill or knowledge — a lawyer, a doctor, a financial adviser, an accountant, an engineer — falls short of the standard their profession demands, and that failure causes you measurable loss.
Adelaide has a substantial professional services economy. Thousands of people here engage professionals every year for legal work, medical treatment, financial planning, property transactions, and construction projects. Most of those relationships go as they should. But when they don’t, the consequences can be serious and lasting.
The Civil Liability Act 1936 (SA) provides the legislative framework governing negligence claims in South Australia, including claims against professionals. Under that Act, a successful claim generally requires proof that the professional owed you a duty of care, that they breached the required standard, that the breach caused your loss, and that the loss is of a kind the law recognises as recoverable.
If you’re uncertain whether your situation meets those criteria, that’s exactly what a free case evaluation is for. You don’t need to have already worked it out.
Not every professional failing amounts to legal negligence — but many do. These are the claim types our team handles for Adelaide clients:
South Australian law gives claimants meaningful rights when a professional has failed them. The Civil Liability Act 1936 (SA) sets out how courts assess negligence — including what standard of care applies, how causation is measured, and what categories of loss are recoverable.
For most professional negligence claims in SA, the standard of care is objective: it asks what a reasonably competent professional in the same field would have done in the same circumstances. It doesn’t matter whether the professional tried their best or had good intentions. What matters is whether their conduct met the standard the law requires.
More substantial claims are typically litigated in the Supreme Court of South Australia, which has extensive experience in professional negligence matters and sets the standard by which these claims are assessed in this state.
If the professional in question is a lawyer, the Law Society of South Australia also plays a regulatory role. Complaints about legal practitioners can be made to the Legal Services Commission of South Australia, and those disciplinary proceedings can run parallel to a civil negligence claim. For a deeper look at the legal concepts that underpin these claims, see our guides on duty of care and causation in Australian negligence law.
This is one of the most important questions in any negligence matter — and the answer has real consequences.
Under the Limitation of Actions Act 1936 (SA), you generally have three years from the date you knew (or reasonably ought to have known) that you had suffered loss as a result of someone’s negligence to commence legal proceedings. That is known as the discovery rule, and it means the clock doesn’t necessarily start from when the negligent act occurred — it starts from when you discovered, or should have discovered, that something had gone wrong and that a professional was responsible.
That distinction matters. A financial loss might not become apparent until a tax return is filed. A structural defect might not surface for years. In those situations, the limitation period may run from the point of discovery rather than the point of the original error.
There are limited exceptions — for example, provisions relating to people under a legal disability — but they are narrow and not to be assumed.
In South Australia, professional negligence claims must generally be commenced within three years of the date you became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) of the negligence. Missing this deadline can permanently extinguish your right to claim. If you are unsure whether your limitation period is still open, contact our team for a free assessment as soon as possible.
You tell us what happened. We assess whether the facts disclose a potential negligence claim, explain the likely pathway, and give you an honest view of the strengths and weaknesses of your position. No cost, no obligation.
The process can feel daunting when you’re already dealing with the fallout of someone else’s mistake. In practice, it follows a clear sequence — and our team manages the complexity so you don’t have to.
You tell us what happened. We assess whether the facts disclose a potential negligence claim, explain the likely pathway, and give you an honest view of the strengths and weaknesses of your position. No cost, no obligation.
If you decide to proceed, we work with you to gather the evidence needed to support your claim: professional records, correspondence, expert opinions, financial documentation. The evidentiary standard in professional negligence matters is high, and preparation matters.
In many cases, a formal Letter of Demand — setting out the basis of your claim and the loss you've suffered — prompts engagement from the professional or their insurer. Most professionals carry professional indemnity insurance, and insurers often prefer to resolve genuine claims without litigation.
The significant majority of professional negligence claims are resolved through negotiation before any court proceedings are required. A fair settlement can be reached without the time and cost of a trial.
Where settlement is not possible, we progress the matter through the appropriate court — typically the Supreme Court of South Australia for substantial claims. Litigation is a last resort, but when it's necessary, having a specialist team makes a real difference.
Whether through settlement or judgment, the goal is recovery of the compensation you're entitled to. We keep you informed throughout, and we don't get paid unless you do.
The compensation available in a professional negligence claim depends entirely on the nature and extent of your loss. There’s no fixed amount — the law aims to put you back in the position you would have been in had the negligence not occurred.
Common heads of loss include:
The Civil Liability Act 1936 (SA) does place certain caps and thresholds on non-economic loss claims. The amounts recoverable for economic loss are generally uncapped and assessed on the evidence. A precise figure can only be determined once the full scope of your loss has been assessed — which is part of what the case evaluation process helps establish.
There’s no shortage of law firms in Adelaide. What’s harder to find is a team that works exclusively in professional negligence, that takes plaintiff-side cases only, and that operates on a genuine no-win, no-fee basis. That’s what we offer.
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you reach out. A free case evaluation is exactly that — a no-obligation conversation about your situation, your options, and what a claim might look like. It costs you nothing, it takes less time than you might expect, and it gives you something concrete: an honest assessment from a specialist team.
We respond within one business day.
The starting point is whether a professional owed you a duty of care, whether they fell below the standard reasonably expected in their field, and whether that failure caused you a loss you wouldn’t otherwise have suffered. That’s the legal test — but you don’t need to work that out yourself before speaking to us. Our free case evaluation is specifically designed to answer that question based on the facts of your situation.
It depends on the complexity of the matter and whether it resolves through negotiation or requires litigation. Many claims settle within six to eighteen months once properly prepared and presented. Matters that proceed to trial in the Supreme Court of South Australia can take longer — sometimes two to three years in total. We’ll give you a realistic timeline estimate once we’ve assessed your claim.
Yes, in most cases. Professional negligence claims in Australia can be brought in tort (negligence) even where a contractual relationship existed. The two claims often run alongside each other. A contract does not insulate a professional from liability for failing to meet the standard of care the law requires — and in some cases, the contract itself is evidence of what the professional agreed to do.
It means our legal fees are contingent on a successful outcome. If your claim doesn’t succeed — whether through settlement or court — you don’t pay our professional fees. We carry the financial risk of running your matter. There are some disbursements such as court filing fees or expert report costs that may be handled differently depending on your specific agreement, and we explain all of that clearly at the outset so there are no surprises.
Our goal is to help people in the best way possible. this is a basic principle in every case and cause for success. contact us today for a free consultation.
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