Transport law involves the transport of goods and passengers by air, rail, road and sea.

Carriage by air is governed by the Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) which adopts the Warsaw Convention and various protocols. The adoption of passenger E-tickets in international carriage has placed international air carriers outside the liability limitation under the Warsaw Convention as E-tickets do not have all the requisite information.

Rail and Road carriage in Australia is governed by domestic law to which the ticket cases apply. Road Carriers are exempt from the statutory implied warranties to provide services with due care and skill under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) s74(3)(a) in relation to a contract for the purposes of a business, trade, profession or occupation.

The carriage of goods by sea is governed by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991 (Cth) which adopts a version of the Hague Visby Rules and SDR Protocol with some features of the Hamburg Rules. The Uncitral Rotterdam Rules are expected to be adopted in the near future.

The carriage of passengers is not the subject of any special law, other than claims for loss, damage, injury and death at sea are governed by the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth), and during international air carriage by the Warsaw Convention.

Members who practice in this area:

Dr Robert Harper SC, Troy Anderson, Tom Davie, Tony DiFrancesco, Peter King, John Levingston