Operator duty of care
Accommodation providers must take reasonable steps to identify and address hazards in:
- Guest rooms - fixtures, fittings, electricals, balconies
- Common areas - pools, gyms, lobbies, corridors
- Bathroom safety - slip hazards, water temperature
- Cooking facilities (where provided)
- Children's facilities
Standards expected scale with the type of operator. A 5-star hotel is held to higher standards than a budget motel; a professionally-managed Airbnb is held to higher standards than a casually-listed property - but both still owe guests a duty of care.
Common accommodation injury claims
- Pool drownings and near-drownings - particularly children, where supervision and pool safety failures contributed
- Balcony falls - defective rails, low balustrades, damaged barriers
- Bathroom slips - slippery surfaces without grip strips or grab rails
- Hot water scalds - defective thermostats, no anti-scald protection
- Electrical injuries - defective wiring, exposed circuits
- Mould and respiratory illness - building disrepair causing illness
- Bed bugs and other infestations - health and reaction claims
- Carbon monoxide - defective heaters, inadequate ventilation
Airbnb-specific issues
Short-stay rental claims have specific complications:
- Host liability - Airbnb hosts are usually treated as the duty-holder; the platform itself often falls outside primary liability
- Insurance - Airbnb provides "AirCover" host protection up to USD$1m, but it can be complex to claim against and has exclusions. Direct claims against host's personal/business insurance often go further.
- Strata buildings - where the rental is in a strata-titled building, common areas may be the body corporate's responsibility
- Unlicensed short-stays - some properties operate without local government approval; this strengthens negligence arguments
Compensation amounts
- Slip and fall, fracture, full recovery: $30,000 – $150,000
- Burn from defective hot water: $40,000 – $200,000
- Pool incident with hospitalisation but recovery: $80,000 – $400,000
- Severe pool incident with brain injury: $1,000,000 – $5,000,000+
- Balcony fall with serious injury: $300,000 – $2,000,000+
- CO poisoning with permanent effects: $200,000 – $1,000,000+