{"id":"proportionate-liability-act-2005","name":"Proportionate Liability Act 2005","slug":"proportionate-liability-act-2005","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30519,"registerId":"nt-proportionate-liability-act-2005-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proportionate Liability Act 2005","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nPROPORTIONATE LIABILITY ACT 2005\nAs in force at 1 January 2011\nTable of provisions\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\n1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1\n2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1\n3 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1\n4 Apportionable claims to which Act applies ....................................... 2\n5 Act binds Crown .............................................................................. 2\nPart 2 Proportionate liability\nDivision 1 Preliminary matters\n6 Concurrent wrongdoers ................................................................... 3\n7 No apportionment for loss caused intentionally or fraudulently........ 3\nDivision 2 General provisions for proceedings\n8 Determination as single claim if more than one cause of action ...... 3\n9 Determination of apportionable claim and other claim ..................... 3\n10 No need for all concurrent wrongdoers to be parties ....................... 4\n11 Joining concurrent wrongdoers as defendants ................................ 4\n12 Costs order if failure to inform of concurrent wrongdoer .................. 4\nDivision 3 Determination of liability in apportionable\nclaims\n13 Determination of liability of concurrent wrongdoers ......................... 5\n14 Other liability not affected ................................................................ 5\nDivision 4 After judgment given in proceedings\n15 Concurrent wrongdoers not required to contribute or indemnify ...... 6\n16 Subsequent actions ......................................................................... 6\nPart 3 Miscellaneous matters\n17 Regulations...................................................................................... 6\n\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 ii\nPart 4 Repeal and transitional matters for\nProportionate Liability Act 2005\n18 Repeal of apportionable liability provisions of Building\nAct 1993 .......................................................................................... 7\n19 Transitional matters ......................................................................... 7\nENDNOTES\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 1 January 2011\n____________________\nPROPORTIONATE LIABILITY ACT 2005\nAn Act to replace the common law rule that imposes joint and several\nliability for economic loss or damage to property caused by concurrent\nwrongdoers with rules that limit the liability of each concurrent\nwrongdoer to reflect the extent of the wrongdoer's responsibility for the\nloss or damage, and for related purposes\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\n1 Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Proportionate Liability Act 2005.\n2 Commencement\nThis Act comes into operation on the date fixed by the Administrator\nby notice in the Gazette.\n3 Definitions\nIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\napportionable claim means an apportionable claim to which this\nAct applies by virtue of section 4.\nconcurrent wrongdoer has the meaning in section 6(1).\ncourt means the court, tribunal or other statutory body determining\na proceeding.\ndamages includes any form of monetary compensation for loss or\ndamage.\ndefendant includes any person joined as a defendant in a\nproceeding, whether joined under this Act or otherwise.\neconomic loss does not include economic loss resulting from a\npersonal injury.\nloss or damage means economic loss or damage to property.\n\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 2\nproceeding means a proceeding involving an apportionable claim.\n4 Apportionable claims to which Act applies\n(1) This Act applies in relation to an apportionable claim if the loss or\ndamage that is the subject of the claim occurs wholly or partly after\nthe commencement of this Act.\n(2) An apportionable claim is:\n(a) a claim for damages (whether in tort, in contract, under a\nstatute or otherwise) arising from a failure to take reasonable\ncare; or\n(b) a claim in respect of loss or damage arising from a\ncontravention of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law\n(NT).\n(3) However, none of the following is an apportionable claim:\n(a) a claim arising from a personal injury;\n(b) a claim arising from a contravention of Part 3-3 or 3-4 of the\nAustralian Consumer Law (NT);\n(c) a claim specified by the Regulations not to be an\napportionable claim.\n(4) The Regulations may specify that a claim or class of claims is not\nan apportionable claim.\n(5) In this section:\nAustralian Consumer Law (NT) means the provisions applying as\na law of the Territory because of Part 4 of the Consumer Affairs and\nFair Trading Act 1990.\n5 Act binds Crown\nThis Act binds the Crown in right of the Territory and, to the extent\nthe legislative power of the Legislative Assembly permits, the\nCrown in all its other capacities.\n\nPart 2 Proportionate liability\nDivision 2 General provisions for proceedings\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 3\nPart 2 Proportionate liability\nDivision 1 Preliminary matters\n6 Concurrent wrongdoers\n(1) A concurrent wrongdoer is one of 2 or more persons whose acts or\nomissions caused (either jointly or independently) the loss or\ndamage that is the subject of a claim for damages.\n(2) In applying this Part to an apportionable claim, it is immaterial that a\nconcurrent wrongdoer is insolvent, is being wound up, has ceased\nto exist or has died.\n7 No apportionment for loss caused intentionally or fraudulently\n(1) This section applies to a concurrent wrongdoer (the excluded\nconcurrent wrongdoer) who intended to cause, or fraudulently\ncaused, the loss or damage that is the subject of an apportionable\nclaim.\n(2) This Part does not limit the liability of the excluded concurrent\nwrongdoer for that loss or damage.\n(3) The liability of the excluded concurrent wrongdoer must be\ndetermined in accordance with the legal rules that, apart from this\nPart, are relevant.\n(4) The liability of any other concurrent wrongdoer must be determined\nin accordance with this Part.\nDivision 2 General provisions for proceedings\n8 Determination as single claim if more than one cause of action\nIf a proceeding involves 2 or more apportionable claims in respect\nof the same loss or damage arising out of different causes of action,\nliability for the loss or damage must be determined in accordance\nwith this Part as if the claims were a single claim.\n9 Determination of apportionable claim and other claim\nIf a proceeding involves both an apportionable claim and a claim\nthat is not an apportionable claim:\n(a) liability for the loss or damage that is the subject of the\napportionable claim must be determined in accordance with\nthis Part; and\n\nPart 2 Proportionate liability\nDivision 2 General provisions for proceedings\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 4\n(b) liability for the loss or damage that is the subject of the other\nclaim must be determined in accordance with the legal rules\nthat, apart from this Part, are relevant to that claim.\n10 No need for all concurrent wrongdoers to be parties\nThis Part applies in relation to a proceeding whether or not all\nconcurrent wrongdoers are parties to the proceeding.\n11 Joining concurrent wrongdoers as defendants\n(1) The court may give leave for any one or more persons who are (or\nmay be) concurrent wrongdoers in relation to an apportionable\nclaim to be joined as defendants in the proceeding involving that\nclaim.\n(2) The court must not give leave for the joinder of a person who was a\nparty to any previously concluded proceeding in respect of that\napportionable claim.\n12 Costs order if failure to inform of concurrent wrongdoer\n(1) This section applies if:\n(a) a defendant in a proceeding has reasonable grounds to\nbelieve that another person may be a concurrent wrongdoer in\nrelation to the apportionable claim;\n(b) the defendant does not give the plaintiff, as soon as\npracticable, written notice of the information the defendant has\nabout:\n(i) the identity of the other person; and\n(ii) the circumstances that may make the other person a\nconcurrent wrongdoer; and\n(c) the plaintiff unnecessarily incurs costs in the proceeding\nbecause the plaintiff does not know the other person may be a\nconcurrent wrongdoer.\n(2) The court may order the defendant to pay all or any of those costs\nunnecessarily incurred.\n(3) The court may order that the costs payable by the defendant be\nassessed on the indemnity basis or otherwise.\n\nPart 2 Proportionate liability\nDivision 3 Determination of liability in apportionable claims\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 5\nDivision 3 Determination of liability in apportionable claims\n13 Determination of liability of concurrent wrongdoers\n(1) In a proceeding:\n(a) the liability of a defendant who is a concurrent wrongdoer is\nlimited to an amount reflecting the proportion of the loss or\ndamage claimed that the court considers just having regard to\nthe extent of the defendant's responsibility for the loss or\ndamage; and\n(b) the court may give judgment against the defendant for not\nmore than that amount.\n(2) In apportioning responsibility for loss or damage between the\ndefendants:\n(a) the court must exclude any proportion of the loss or damage in\nrelation to which the plaintiff is contributorily negligent under\nany relevant law; and\n(b) the court may have regard to the comparative responsibility of\nany concurrent wrongdoer who is not a party to the\nproceeding.\n14 Other liability not affected\nThis Act does not:\n(a) prevent a person from being held vicariously liable for a\nproportion of an apportionable claim for which another person\nis liable;\n(b) prevent a partner from being held jointly and severally liable\nwith another partner for the proportion of an apportionable\nclaim for which the other partner is liable; or\n(c) affect the operation of any other Act to the extent that it\nimposes several liability on any person in respect of what\nwould otherwise be an apportionable claim.\n\nPart 3 Miscellaneous matters\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 6\nDivision 4 After judgment given in proceedings\n15 Concurrent wrongdoers not required to contribute or\nindemnify\n(1) A defendant in a proceeding against whom judgment is given under\nsection 13 as a concurrent wrongdoer cannot be required:\n(a) to contribute to the damages recovered or recoverable from\nanother concurrent wrongdoer in the proceeding; or\n(b) to indemnify any such wrongdoer.\n(2) Subsection (1) does not affect any agreement by the defendant to\ncontribute to the damages recoverable from, or to indemnify,\nanother concurrent wrongdoer in the proceeding.\n16 Subsequent actions\n(1) A plaintiff who has previously obtained judgment against a\nconcurrent wrongdoer for an apportionable part of loss or damage\nis not prevented by this Part or any other law from bringing another\naction against any other concurrent wrongdoer for that loss or\ndamage.\n(2) However, in a proceeding in respect of such an action, the plaintiff\ncannot recover an amount of damages that, having regard to any\ndamages previously recovered by the plaintiff in respect of the loss\nor damage, would result in the plaintiff receiving compensation for\nloss or damage that is greater than the loss or damage actually\nsustained by the plaintiff.\nPart 3 Miscellaneous matters\n17 Regulations\nThe Administrator may make regulations, not inconsistent with this\nAct, prescribing matters:\n(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or\n(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or\ngiving effect to this Act.\n\nPart 4 Repeal and transitional matters for Proportionate Liability Act 2005\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 7\nPart 4 Repeal and transitional matters for\nProportionate Liability Act 2005\n18 Repeal of apportionable liability provisions of Building\nAct 1993\nSections 154 to 158 (inclusive) of the Building Act 1993 are\nrepealed.\n19 Transitional matters\n(1) Despite the repeal of the sections of the Building Act 1993 referred\nto in section 18, those sections continue to apply after the\ncommencement date in relation to an action referred to in\nsection 154 of the former Building Act 1993:\n(a) instituted before the commencement date; or\n(b) instituted on or after the commencement date if the economic\nloss and rectification costs for which damages are claimed\nwere incurred wholly before the commencement date.\n(2) In this section:\ncommencement date means the date on which this Act comes into\noperation.\nformer Building Act means the Building Act 1993 as in force\nimmediately before the commencement date.\n\nENDNOTES\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 8\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nProportionate Liability Act 2005 (Act No. 18, 2005)\nAssent date 5 May 2005\nCommenced 1 June 2005 (Gaz S16, 16 May 2005)\nConsumer Affairs and Fair Trading Amendment (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2010\n(Act No. 41, 2010)\nAssent date 8 December 2010\nCommenced 1 January 2011 (Gaz S71, 20 December 2010)\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: ss 1, 4 and 18.\n4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\ns 4 amd No. 41, 2010, s 30","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act replaced proportionate liability provisions that previously only applied to building matters under the Building Act 1993 (sections 154-158) with a broader scheme covering claims for economic loss or property damage from failure to take reasonable care and certain consumer law breaches, regardless of industry. This expanded the scope significantly beyond its original building-specific application."},"complexity_factors":["12 defined terms in section 3, including cross-references like 'apportionable claim' tied to section 4","Exceptions and carve-outs in section 4(3) and (4) (personal injury, specific consumer law claims, regulations)","Conditional application: applies only if loss occurs wholly or partly after commencement (section 4(1))","Nested rules for intentional/fraudulent wrongdoers in section 7, with separate treatment","Multiple procedural provisions (joinder, costs, subsequent actions) that interact with each other","Repeal and transitional provisions in Part 4 that preserve old Building Act rules for some claims"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act changes how liability is shared when multiple parties cause economic loss or property damage (not personal injury). Normally, under 'joint and several liability', any one wrongdoer could be forced to pay the entire amount if others can't pay. This Act replaces that with 'proportionate liability': each wrongdoer is only responsible for their fair share of the loss, based on how much they contributed. It applies to claims for damages from a failure to take reasonable care (negligence, breach of contract, or breach of statutory duty) and certain misleading conduct claims under the Australian Consumer Law. But it does not apply to personal injury claims, intentional fraud, or claims under other specified consumer law provisions. If multiple wrongdoers are involved, a court will determine each party's percentage of responsibility and limit their liability to that amount. The plaintiff can still sue other wrongdoers later, but cannot recover more than the total loss. This Act also replaces earlier proportionate liability rules that only applied to building matters, extending them to a wider range of claims. It affects anyone who might be sued for economic loss or property damage—businesses, professionals, and individuals—by reducing the risk of being forced to pay for others' mistakes. It also affects plaintiffs, who now bear the risk of insolvent defendants."},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"source":"grok-batch-everything"},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act has not grown significantly beyond its original purpose. It continues to implement proportionate liability for economic loss and property damage claims arising from failure to take reasonable care or ACL (NT) s 18 contraventions, exactly as contemplated when it replaced the apportionable-liability provisions of the Building Act 1993."},"complexity_factors":["Interlocking divisions dealing with preliminary definitions, procedural rules, liability apportionment and post-judgment consequences","Cross-references to the Australian Consumer Law (NT), the Building Act 1993 (repealed provisions) and general common-law concepts","Multiple exceptions and carve-outs (personal injury, intentional/fraudulent conduct, specific consumer-law parts, regulatory exclusions)","Detailed procedural machinery for joinder, notice requirements, costs sanctions and subsequent actions"],"plain_english_summary":"**The Proportionate Liability Act 2005 (NT)** replaces the old common-law rule of joint and several liability. Under the old rule, if several people contributed to causing financial loss or property damage, any one of them could be forced to pay the entire amount. This Act changes that for most claims: each person (called a concurrent wrongdoer) is now only liable for a fair share of the damage that matches their level of responsibility.\n\nIt applies to claims for **economic loss** or damage to property that arise from a failure to take reasonable care (in tort, contract, statute or otherwise) or from a breach of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (NT) (the ban on misleading or deceptive conduct). Personal injury claims, certain product-liability claims under the Australian Consumer Law, and any claims excluded by regulation are carved out.\n\nThe Act tells courts how to apportion liability (s 13), makes it unnecessary to join every possible wrongdoer (s 10), prevents a defendant from having to chase others for contribution after judgment (s 15), and contains practical rules about costs, joinder and transitional cases. It binds the Crown and works alongside other laws without disturbing vicarious liability or partnership liability.\n\nIt matters because it stops one careful defendant from being left holding the bag when others are insolvent or unavailable, while still allowing a plaintiff to recover full compensation by suing multiple parties if needed."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proportionate-liability-act-2005","history":"/api/acts/proportionate-liability-act-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proportionate-liability-act-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proportionate-liability-act-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proportionate-liability-act-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proportionate-liability-act-2005/documents"}}