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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NSW — SUTHERLAND SHIRE
When a professional you trusted lets you down — and the consequences are real — you deserve honest advice about your options. Fair Go Australia works with residents across the Sutherland Shire to assess and pursue professional negligence claims under NSW law. Our service is entirely remote; you never need to travel into Sydney to get started.
About our service
People across Cronulla, Miranda, Caringbah, Engadine and the broader Shire rely on professionals every day — solicitors, doctors, financial advisers, accountants, engineers. Most of the time, those relationships work exactly as they should. When they don’t, the consequences can be significant: a missed legal deadline that collapses a property settlement, a misdiagnosis that delayed treatment for months, investment advice that wiped out savings that took decades to build.
If that sounds like your situation, you are not alone — and it is worth understanding whether you have a claim. Our team handles professional negligence cases across NSW on a no-win, no-fee basis. You pay nothing upfront, and nothing at all if your claim does not succeed.
The assessment process is straightforward. You speak with us, we listen, and we give you a clear and honest view of where you stand. If there is a viable claim, we will tell you. If there isn’t, we will tell you that too.
Professional negligence in your area
The Sutherland Shire is a large and diverse part of greater Sydney — a mix of residential families, small business owners, tradespeople and coastal communities. That diversity means residents engage with a wide range of professionals, from conveyancing solicitors handling property transactions in Gymea or Kirrawee, to GPs and specialists treating conditions across the local hospital network.
Professional negligence is not confined to high-profile industries. It happens in everyday professional relationships — when a financial planner places a retiree’s savings into unsuitable products, when a builder’s engineer fails to flag a structural issue before it becomes a major defect, or when an accountant’s errors trigger a tax liability that should never have arisen. The common thread is a failure to meet a standard of care the law requires.
Regardless of where in the Shire you are located, the same NSW legal framework applies. What matters is whether the professional owed you a duty of care, whether they fell below the standard expected of a competent practitioner in their field, and whether that failure caused your loss.
What we handle
We assist with a broad range of professional negligence matters across NSW. Some of the most common claim types we see from Sutherland Shire residents include:
Your solicitor is required to act with reasonable skill and care. When a lawyer misses a critical filing deadline, provides incorrect advice on a property or commercial matter, or fails to explain the risks of a settlement before you sign, you may have grounds for a claim. Legal negligence is one of the more common categories we encounter — and often one of the most financially significant.
Doctors, specialists, surgeons and allied health professionals owe patients a clear duty of care. When a misdiagnosis delays necessary treatment, a surgical procedure causes harm that proper technique would have avoided, or a practitioner fails to obtain genuine informed consent before an intervention, the consequences for patients can be serious and lasting.
Licensed financial advisers have a legal obligation to act in their client’s best interests and provide advice that is appropriate to their individual circumstances. Unsuitable investment strategies, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or advice that exposes a client to risk they were never made aware of can all form the basis of a negligence claim.
Errors in tax returns, failure to advise on tax obligations, or negligent handling of a business’s financial affairs can expose individuals and businesses to ATO penalties and unexpected liability. If your accountant’s mistakes have cost you money that proper professional conduct would have preserved, a claim may be available.
Structural defects, design failures, and inadequate certifications can leave homeowners and developers carrying significant costs. Engineers, certifiers and building professionals are held to defined standards under NSW law, and a failure to meet those standards that results in physical loss or remediation expense may ground a claim.
Any licensed professional who owes you a duty of care — architects, surveyors, insurance brokers, IT consultants, and others — can be the subject of a negligence claim if their conduct falls below the standard expected and causes you measurable loss. If you are unsure whether your situation qualifies, the free evaluation is the right starting point.
Your legal rights under NSW law
Professional negligence claims in NSW are governed primarily by the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), alongside established common law principles that have developed through decades of Australian court decisions.
The foundation of any negligence claim is duty of care — the legal obligation a professional accepts when they take on a client or patient. In the landmark High Court decision of Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479, the court confirmed that professionals must exercise reasonable skill and care, and must disclose material risks that a reasonable person in the patient’s or client’s position would want to know. That principle continues to underpin how NSW courts assess professional negligence claims today.
For claims involving solicitors and other legal practitioners, the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) sets out additional conduct obligations and provides an avenue for complaints through the NSW Legal Services Commissioner and the Law Society of NSW. Both regulatory complaints and civil negligence claims can arise from the same conduct — though they are separate processes with different outcomes.
Where a claim proceeds to litigation, it will generally be heard in the Supreme Cou=t of NSW or, depending on the amount in dispute, the District Court of NSW. Our team is experienced in navigating both forums.
Time limits — act now
In NSW, professional negligence claims must generally be commenced within 3 years of the date you became aware — or should reasonably have become aware — of the negligence. This deadline is set by the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW).
The 3-year period does not always start running from the date the negligence occurred. In many cases, harm is not immediately apparent — a misdiagnosis may not become clear for months, and the consequences of poor legal advice may only surface when a later transaction falls through. Courts assess when a person in your position would reasonably have discovered the problem.
What is not negotiable is the consequence of missing the deadline. Once the limitation period has passed, your right to bring a claim is, in most circumstances, permanently extinguished. Courts have very limited discretion to extend it.
If you are uncertain whether your window is still open, do not wait. Contact our team for a free, no-obligation assessment as soon as possible. An early conversation costs you nothing and preserves your options.
How it works
We work with clients across NSW entirely remotely — by phone, video call or email. You do not need to travel into Sydney, and we do not operate on a referral model. When you contact us, you speak with us directly.
The process is straightforward:
Our no-win, no-fee model is straightforward: you pay nothing unless your claim succeeds. If it does, our fees are deducted from the compensation recovered. If it doesn’t, you owe us nothing.
Take the first step
If you believe a professional has failed you and you have suffered real loss as a result, the next step is a free, confidential conversation with our team. We work with Sutherland Shire residents across all professional negligence matters under NSW law — and we carry the financial risk so you don’t have to.
We respond to all enquiries within 1 business day.
Common questions
Yes — the majority of professional negligence claims in NSW are resolved through negotiation or settlement before they reach a courtroom. Our team manages the entire process, including correspondence and negotiation with the professional’s insurer or legal representatives. Court proceedings are commenced when necessary, but in many cases they are not required to achieve a reasonable outcome.
Professional negligence occurs when a person in a licensed or regulated profession fails to exercise the standard of skill and care that a reasonably competent practitioner in their field would have met, and that failure causes you measurable loss. The Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) and established common law principles set the framework courts apply. The professional must have owed you a duty of care — which is almost always the case in a client or patient relationship — and their conduct must have fallen below what is acceptable in their field.
Nothing upfront. We operate on a no-win, no-fee basis, which means you pay no legal costs unless your claim succeeds. The initial case evaluation is completely free and carries no obligation. If your claim proceeds and is successful, our fees are deducted from the compensation recovered. If the claim does not succeed, you owe us nothing.
Under the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), the general limitation period for professional negligence claims is 3 years from the date you became aware — or should reasonably have become aware — of the negligence and the loss it caused. This is not always the date the negligence occurred. If you are in any doubt about whether your limitation period is still open, contact us immediately. Missing the deadline will, in most circumstances, permanently extinguish your right to claim.
Possibly, depending on when you became aware of the negligence and what has happened since. The limitation period in NSW runs from the date of discovery, not the date of the original act or omission. If you only recently came to understand that a professional’s conduct may have been negligent, your window may still be open. The first step is to tell us the details — we will give you an honest assessment of where you stand.
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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