Graham Barclay Oysters Pty Ltd v Ryan

Negligence – Local authority – Duty of care – Harvesting of contaminated oysters – Oysters causing Hepatitis A infection – Knowledge of risk on part of officers of the authority – Failure by the authority to exercise statutory powers to control water pollution – Reasonableness – Class to whom duty owed when exercising power to control pollution – Causation – Whether minimisation of pollution and thus risk of viral contamination would have prevented infection.

Negligence – Oyster grower and distributor – Breach of duty of care – Harvesting of contaminated oysters – Oysters causing Hepatitis A infection – Failure to refrain from harvesting and selling oysters during relevant period.

Negligence – The State – Duty of care – Harvesting of contaminated oysters – Oysters causing Hepatitis A infection – Knowledge of risk on part of officers of the State – Failure to exercise general statutory powers – Relevance of State "control" of industry – Reasonableness – Justiciability – Failure to exercise specific statutory power of closure – Whether power enlivened – Class to whom duty owed when exercising power.

Practice and procedure – Federal Court of Australia – Representative action – Declaration of legal right concerning individual entitlement to recovery – Whether the making of such a declaration inappropriate or beyond power – Whether statute and nature of representative proceeding sustain a declaratory order.