PLA (a pseudonym) -v- DEF (a pseudonym) [2024] WADC 53 (Link to AUSTLII)
With thanks to Isobel Hall for drawing attention to this decision of the District Court of Western Australia.
The defendant is the plaintiff’s uncle by marriage. On 16 May 1994, he was convicted in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on a plea of guilty to one count of sexual penetration in circumstances of aggravation. Although the defendant was convicted of a single count of sexual penetration, he repeatedly sexually abused the plaintiff between 1991 and 1993.
In these proceedings the plaintiff sued the defendant for battery. The plaintiff obtained judgment against the defendant in default of appearance. This judgment concerns the assessment of the damages to which the plaintiff is entitled. At the hearing, the defendant was self-represented. He did not apply to set aside the default judgment. Nor did he actively defend the plaintiff’s claim. Although he was given the opportunity to do so, he did not cross-examine any witnesses, give evidence himself or call any witnesses, or make any submissions. Nor did the defendant challenge the basis upon which the plaintiff submitted damages should be assessed.
Some comments were made about the basis of a forensic account’s report, however by the conclusion of the trial the plaintiff’s position became that the appropriate assessment of her loss of earning capacity on the preponderance of the evidence and the authorities was an assessment which assumed that she would have earned average weekly earnings for a person who left high school at Year 12. ([121]).
A summary of the assessment of damages appears at [204]:
Non-pecuniary loss $300,000.00
Past loss of earning capacity $638,735.00
Interest on past loss of earning capacity $430,735.05
Future loss of earning capacity $716,443.02
Past and future loss of superannuation (inc interest on past loss of superannuation) $220,404.87
Future medical expenses $123,618.35
TOTAL $2,429,936.29
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