Business Law: Shorten v. Grafton District Golf Club NSWCA 58 Case and Australian Acts Interpretation

This article discusses the Shorten v. Grafton District Golf Club NSWCA 58 case, including the date, court, cause of action, judges, and verdict. It also covers the Australian Acts Interpretation, including the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and the definition of a holiday. Additionally, it explains the difference between case law and legislation, how they are made, and which has higher authority. Lastly, it discusses academic misconduct in Kent Institute, Australia.

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PART A
What was the date of this case?
The Shorten v. Grafton District Golf Club NSWCA 58 case took place on March 23,
2000.
What court was this case heard in?
This case was heard in Supreme Court of New South Wales-Court of Appeal (Lunney &
Oliphant 2013, pp. 83).
What was the cause of action in this case?
In this case, Shorten, a 13 year old boy was attacked by kangaroos while trying to collect
a ball while playing at Grafton Golf Club and he suffered injuries. The boy had noticed a group
of kangaroos feeding on grass where the ball had landed; however, he had no issue with the
Kangaroos. Therefore, Shorten sued the club because of negligence. The judge in the trial in the
case established that the Grafton club owed a duty of care to the appellant (Shorten) it had not
violated that duty. Consequently, Shorten went to the court of appeal. The finding in this case
was that the duty of care by the Grafton club comprised a duty to caution golfers regarding the
threat of hostile kangaroos. The judge verdict was also based on the principle that it was apparent
that warnings could have been effortlessly notified, as well as suitably stressed at practically no
cost or inconvenience to the Grafton Golf Clu. Significantly, the judge considered that the golf
club understood both the danger to players. In addition, as the threat to golfers could be reduced

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through a warning to the club had failed to meet the pertinent standard of care (Plunkett 2018,
pp. 49).
Who were the judges in this case?
The judges in this case were Priestley, J.A., Fitzgerald, J.A., and Heydon, J.A.
Who was the judge in the District Court?
The judge who was dealing to the case in the District Court was Wallace J.
What was the case relied upon by His Honour Fitzgerald JA?
In this case, Fitzgerald JA relied on the fact that the respondent failed to warn the golfers
of danger of harm from the kangaroos where they were unconscious of this danger. This judge
established that this amounted to breach of the respondent’s duty of care to the individuals
golfing in the club, although the danger was small (Lunney & Oliphant 2013, pp. 84).
Part B
Locate and name the 9 Australian Acts Interpretation legislations.
The following are the interpretation acts in Australia: Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW),
Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (Vic), Interpretation Act 1931, Interpretation Act 1978,
Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld), Interpretation Act 1915, Interpretation Act 1999, Interpretation
Act 2001, and Interpretation Act (1901) (Cth) (Latimer & CCH Australia Limited 2011, pp. 34).
What does ACTS INTERPRETATION ACT 1901 - SECT 15AA state?

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Section 15AA of the Interpretation Act (1901) declares that while courts are interpreting
this act of the Federal parliament, they should ensure that they use a construction that could
promote the object or purpose fundamental Act provisions, whether the object or purpose being
promoted is explicitly affirmed or not, in predilection to a construction, which will promote that
purpose or object.
What is considered a holiday under the ACTS INTERPRETATION ACT 1901 .
Under section 36 of the Interpretation Act 1901, holiday is a day, which a public holiday
where act is to be or can be done and should be at or may be at a specific office. This is the day
that this particular office is closed for the entire day, that is, 24 hours. This implies that the
individual who works in this office will not report to work until the following day under the
provisions of this act (Latimer & CCH Australia Limited 2011, pp. 34).
According to the ACTS INTERPRETATION ACT 1901 when would a person attain the
age of 18?
In section 37A of the Interpretation Act 1901, the attainment of 18 years is the period
where the individual reaches a specific age that is articulated in years that mark the start of the
pertinent anniversary of the day of the birth of that specific individual. In this case, it is 18 years
that an individual will be marking the commencement of adulthood (Gillies 2004, pp. 24).
Part C
Explain the difference between case law and legislation.

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Case law (common law) entails the decisions made by the courts that originate from
disputes between the individuals parties concerned. Case laws are tailored to use the existing law
(legislation, as well as existing case law) to novel situations; however, only embody lawful
authority as it concerns the actual facts of the particular case, and thus cannot even hope for a
detailed approach to the field of the law where it rests. Case laws are legal in nature, which
represents a court’s endeavor to employ pertinent precedents. On the other hand, legislation
entails laws that are passed by legislative bodies of government. Legislations are crafted to
handle comprehensively, as well as sensibly within a specified pool of issues that represent the
public interest with a comprehensible set of laws to comply with. The legislations are political in
nature, which reflects the political dynamics that are inherent in legislatures, which have the role
of creating them (Finch., Fafinski., & Oxford University Press 2017, pp. 71).
Explain how are each made.
Case law is developed from the previous judgments handed down in court, whereby they
are derived from judicial decisions, as well as similar tribunals. It is often utilized to make
decisions regarding fields, which are not included in Acts of Parliament. On the other side,
legislation is made by parliament by passing a bill, in which can become legislation if it is passed
by the majority in the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate.
Explain which has the higher authority and why?
Case law has higher authority than legislation since they are more flexible and apply
precedent cases that have been determined before and also use statue law to determine a specific

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case. This implies that the case law uses past judicial rulings and the current legislations to reach
to a verdict (Arvind & Steele 2012, pp. 31).
Part D
Academic misconduct in Kent Institute, Australia is defined by Academic Misconduct
Policy and Procedure. Academic misconduct is defined in the institute as any behavior,
deliberate or otherwise, which will give a student undue or unfair advantage in academic work
over the other students. This is an act that is deemed inappropriate in academics because it will
disadvantage other students in the institute that they not subscribed to this behavior. The
academic misconduct is seen as a tactic by the student to gain an advantage in academics that
does not reflect his or her efforts, which is unfair because it jeopardizes the academic integrity
(Decoo & Colpaert 2002, pp. 19). The students are needed to be accountable for making sure
that the integrity of their work and comprehend what constitutes an academic misconduct. There
are several listed academic misconduct that include: plagiarism; impersonation; possessing or
utilizing unauthorized academic resources; altering, falsifying or forging documents and records;
submission of academic work that has facts to concocted sources; helping another students in
committing an academic offence; and any other misconduct to get academic credit or advantage
(Velliaris 2017, pp. 37). These types of academic misconduct are punishable under the institute
statute that is signed by each and every student upon admission to the institute.

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References
Arvind, T. T., & Steele, J. 2012. “Tort law and the legislature: Common law, statute and the
dynamics of legal change”. London : Hart Publishing.
Decoo, W., & Colpaert, J. 2002. “Crisis on campus: Confronting academic misconduct”.
Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Finch, E., Fafinski, S., & Oxford University Press. 2017. “Legal skills”. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Gillies, P. 2004. “Business law”. Sydney: Federation Press.
Latimer, P. S., & CCH Australia Limited. 2011. “Australian business law 2012”. North Ryde,
N.S.W: CCH Australia.
Lunney, M., & Oliphant, K. 2013. “Tort law: Text and materials”, Oxford, United Kingdom :
Oxford University Press.
Plunkett, J. 2018. “The duty of care in negligence”. Oxford : Hart Publishing.
Velliaris, D. M. 2017. “Handbook of research on academic misconduct in higher education”.
Hershey PA : Information Science Reference.