Facts: The plaintiff (Pl) was a carpenter employed by the the defendant (D) in the ACT. Due to the negligent failure of the D to provide a safe system of work, the Pl suffered personal injury in an accident in NSW. The Pl brought a common law negligence action against his employer in the ACT. It is agreed that the place of the tort was NSW. Under NSW law, damages were stringent compared to under ACT law; ACT law had no limitations on damages recoverable, whilst NSW law had stringent limitations.
Issue: Which law applied for intranational torts?
Held: The applicable substantive law for determining the Pl’s damages was NSW law as the lex loci delicti, and not ACT law as the lex fori.