Banks and other institutions invest significant amounts of time and capital in building systems, processes and procedures to plan for untoward criminal activity to ensure their staff, customers and the public are safe.

Wotton + Kearney has recently represented Westpac in a matter in the ACT Court of Appeal Roberts v Westpac Corporation [2016] ACTA 68. In this case, the core issue centred on the timing and use of the bank’s ‘fly up screen’ – the ‘target hardening’ technology used as a part of the bank’s security systems during an armed robbery.

The appellant argued that Westpac owed a duty to take reasonable care not to increase the risk of harm to him by activating the fly-up screen. Westpac succeeded on Appeal in a decision which examined the conflicting duties occupiers owe to their staff and members of the public.

Karen Jones (Partner) and Amanda de Souza (Associate) discuss the impact of the judgment and its implications for insurers and insureds in more detail. Please click on the link below to read the full update.