Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

CIVIL LAW (WRONGS) ACT 2002 - SECT 5

    (1)     A good samaritan does not incur personal civil liability for an act done or omission made honestly and without recklessness in assisting, or giving advice about the assistance to be given to, a person who is apparently—

        (a)     injured or at risk of being injured; or

        (b)     in need of emergency medical assistance.

    (2)     However, the protection does not apply if—

        (a)     the liability falls within the ambit of a scheme of compulsory third-party motor vehicle insurance; or

        (b)     the good samaritan's capacity to exercise appropriate care and skill was, at the relevant time, significantly impaired by a recreational drug.

Example—scheme of compulsory third-party motor vehicle insurance

the scheme under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2019

    (3)     Despite subsection (2) (b), if a good samaritan administers the drug known as naloxone, honestly and without recklessness, to a person apparently suffering from an overdose of an opioid drug for the purpose of resuscitating the person, the protection under subsection (1) applies even if the good samaritan's capacity to exercise appropriate care and skill was, at the time of administering the drug, impaired by a recreational drug.

Examples—opioid drugs

              •     heroin

              •     methadone

              •     morphine

    (4)     In this section:

"good samaritan" means—

        (a)     a person who, acting without expectation of payment or other consideration, comes to the aid of a person who is apparently—

              (i)     injured or at risk of being injured; or

              (ii)     in need of emergency medical assistance; or

        (b)     a medically qualified person who, acting without expectation of payment or other consideration, gives advice by telephone or another form of telecommunication about the treatment of a person who is apparently—

              (i)     injured or at risk of being injured; or

              (ii)     in need of emergency medical assistance.

"medically qualified"—a person is medically qualified if the person—

        (a)     is a doctor; or

        (b)     has professional qualifications in a field of health care that are recognised under an Act; or

        (c)     works, or has worked, as a member of the ambulance service or in another paramedical capacity.