A chair gives way as you sit down. You slip on a spill near the counter. Or you’re served something that makes you seriously ill. When an injury at a restaurant wasn’t your fault, can you actually make a claim? In Queensland a restaurant injury claim is often possible — but only in specific circumstances, and the deadlines start running early.
A restaurant must take reasonable care for diners’ safety — covering both the premises and what’s served.
A claim turns on showing the restaurant breached that duty and the breach caused the injury.
Strict time limits apply — generally three years to start court action, with earlier notice deadlines.
1. What duty of care does a restaurant owe its diners?
A restaurant owes its diners a duty to take reasonable care for their safety — and that duty covers both the premises and what is served. Under Queensland law, a restaurant does not breach that duty unless the risk of harm was foreseeable, was not insignificant, and a reasonable operator would have taken precautions against it. In practice that means keeping floors, seating, and fittings in safe condition, training staff, and following basic food-safety standards. It also covers what reaches the table — for instance, serving a dish containing an allergen the kitchen was told to avoid. You can read more about how public liability claims work when someone is injured on another party’s premises.
2. Making a restaurant injury claim: what you need to show
A restaurant injury claim generally succeeds only if you can show three things — that the restaurant owed you a duty of care, that it breached that duty, and that the breach caused your injury.
- Duty of care. The restaurant owed you a responsibility to take reasonable care for your safety — over the dining area, the walkways and stairs, the furniture, and the food it serves.
- Breach of duty. The restaurant fell short of that responsibility — for example, leaving a spill unattended, putting out a chair that hadn’t been checked, or sending out a dish despite a flagged allergy. Showing a breach usually rests on evidence of the unsafe condition and how it arose.
- Causation. The breach actually caused your injury. Medical records linking the injury to the incident are typically what connect the two.
You don’t have to prove all of this yourself before getting advice — but understanding the three elements helps you see what evidence will matter.
3. Common ways people are injured at restaurants
Most restaurant injury claims start from one of a few recognisable situations, and knowing which one fits helps you understand what evidence matters:
- Slips, trips and falls. Spilled food or drink, freshly mopped floors without a warning sign, loose mats, or poorly lit steps between dining levels.
- Faulty furniture and fittings. A chair, stool, or table that gives way because it wasn’t maintained or was poorly assembled.
- Hot food and drink burns. Scalds from drinks or dishes served or handled without reasonable care.
- Food safety and what’s served. Illness from food that wasn’t stored or prepared safely, or being served the wrong item — for instance, a dish containing an allergen the restaurant was told to avoid.
Imagine a diner sits down and the chair collapses because its fixings had worked loose and were never checked. A claim would look at whether a reasonable restaurant would have inspected the seating, whether that would have caught the fault, and whether the failure caused the injury.
4. Time limits and the steps before court
Time limits for a restaurant injury claim are strict, and the earliest ones start well before most people expect.
Court action for a personal injury in Queensland generally must start within three years of the injury. But the pre-court notice deadline can fall much sooner — within the earlier of nine months of the incident, or one month after you first instruct a lawyer.
Court proceedings for a personal injury in Queensland generally must be started within three years of the date the injury occurred; once that period passes, the right to claim can be lost regardless of the merits. Earlier pre-court steps apply too. Under the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), a written notice of claim must be given within the earlier of nine months after the incident (or when symptoms first appear) or one month after you first instruct a lawyer. The parties then exchange information and attend a compulsory conference, which aims to resolve the claim without a trial. Because the notice deadline can fall well before the three-year court deadline, a restaurant injury claim is worth looking into early.
5. What to do after an injury at a restaurant
If you’re hurt at a restaurant, a few practical steps help protect both your health and any later claim:
- Get medical attention. See a doctor and keep the records — they document the injury and help link it to what happened.
- Report it. Tell the restaurant and ask for a written incident report, so there is an official record.
- Photograph the scene. Capture the hazard — the spill, the broken chair, the dish — before it’s cleaned up or repaired, along with any visible injuries.
- Keep what you were served. If the injury involves food or drink, hold on to the item, the receipt, and the order or menu details where you can.
- Get witness details. Names and contact numbers of anyone who saw what happened can support your account later.
- Keep your expenses. Hold on to receipts for treatment, travel, and other costs the injury causes.
Not sure where to start? Seeing your GP and asking the restaurant for a written incident report are almost always needed and easy to do first. For more general questions about how personal injury claims work in Queensland, see Ascent’s FAQ.
Often, yes. If you were injured because the restaurant failed to take reasonable care for your safety, you may be able to make a restaurant injury claim as a type of public liability claim. You’d generally need to show the restaurant owed you a duty of care, breached it, and that the breach caused your injury.
Example: a diner slips on a spill staff had walked past for some time and fractures a wrist — the unattended hazard may point to a breach of the duty of care.
You may still have a claim. A restaurant’s duty of care covers what it serves, not just the premises — so illness from food that wasn’t prepared or stored safely, or being served a dish containing an allergen the restaurant was told to avoid, can raise the same duty, breach, and causation questions. Linking the illness to the food is usually the key evidence question.
Example: a customer flags a serious nut allergy, is assured a dish is safe, and has a reaction — whether reasonable care was taken with the order would be central.
Faulty furniture is a recognised basis for a claim. A restaurant is expected to keep its seating and fittings in reasonably safe condition and to check them; if a chair or table gave way because it wasn’t maintained or was poorly put together, that can amount to a breach of the duty of care.
Example: a stool collapses because a fixing had worked loose over time and was never checked — whether a reasonable restaurant would have caught it is the question.
Generally three years from the date of injury to start court proceedings, but earlier steps apply first. A formal notice of claim must usually be given within the earlier of nine months after the incident, or one month after you first instruct a lawyer — so the timing is worth checking early.
It can make a claim harder, but it doesn’t automatically end it. A later medical record, a follow-up report to the restaurant, booking or bank records placing you there, or a witness you can still reach can all help. The sooner the incident is documented, the stronger that picture tends to be.
6. Conclusion
Whether you can make a restaurant injury claim comes down to the duty of care the restaurant owed you, whether it fell short, and whether that failure caused your injury — and each situation depends on its own facts. If you think a claim might apply, the practical next steps are gathering your medical records, any incident report, and photos or details of what happened, while keeping the time limits in mind. Ascent Lawyers acts for people injured in public places across Queensland, including in restaurants and other hospitality venues, and assists clients in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese. The firm operates on a No Win No Fee basis. Specific cost arrangements are explained at initial consultation.
