All medical negligence (medical malpractice) claims are governed by the Civil Liability Act 2002 (CLA). Section 5H of the Act provides that a practitioner does not have a proactive duty to warn a patient of an obvious risk. An obvious risk is defined by legislation as a “common knowledge” risk.
It was established in Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479 that practitioners must warn their patients of risks that would in that particular circumstances be of significance to that patient.