https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news/news-archive/2025/july/expert-co...
Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Dr Shannon Brincat comments on this week's Federal Court of Australia ruling on a case brought by two Torres Strait Islanders who filed a lawsuit against the Australian Government for failing to protect the Torres Strait from climate change. They sought court orders to require the Federal Government to act to prevent harm from rising sea levels, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
"The judgement is as damning as it is unsurprising," says Dr Brincat.
"The Federal Court held that no duty of care was owed to the plaintiffs under common law principles of negligence.
"As a matter of fact, it determined that adaptation measures were ultimately implemented, and the Commonwealth could not be held solely responsible for any delays or deficiencies in funding.
"Importantly, the court found no evidence directly linking the timing or adequacy of sea wall construction to specific harm or loss suffered by the plaintiffs.
"What is most striking is the court’s candid reflection on the political dimensions of the case.
"While acknowledging the severe impacts of climate change on Torres Strait Islander communities, the court invoked the ‘tragedy of the commons"’ to illustrate the difficulty of attributing causality to Australia’s contribution.
"Furthermore, it held that the common law does not recognise cultural loss or disruption of customary practices as compensable damage within negligence claims.
"As such, the claim failed because negligence law was deemed an inadequate legal pathway for addressing these harms.
"The judgement concluded with a clear message: legal redress for such climate-related harms lies not in the courts but with legislative reform.
"Until the law changes, the appropriate remedy remains political—through advocacy, protest, and the democratic process.
The court's reference to recourse by the ‘ballot box’ is a clear signal to the people of Australia that the redress of such harms suffered by peoples of the Torres Strait (and elsewhere) ultimately falls to them to provide."
Read the following coverage:
https://www.climateinthecourts.com/australia-does-not-owe-duty-of-care-t...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/17/what-happens-next...
https://theconversation.com/australia-got-off-on-a-technicality-for-its-....
https://theconversation.com/federal-court-rules-australian-government-do...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8pwed355o
https://theconversation.com/federal-court-rules-australian-government-do...
