Proposed laws to prohibit claim farming

What’s this about?

The NSW Department of Communities and Justice seeks feedback on the draft Claim Farming Practices Prohibition Bill 2025. The exposure draft Bill proposes to prohibit the practice of “claim farming” in NSW in relation to personal injury claims to which the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) applies, as well as personal injury claims arising from intentional torts.

Specifically, the exposure draft Bill seeks to:

• prohibit a person from contacting another person to encourage them to make a relevant claim;
• prohibit a person from buying or selling a relevant claim referral; and
• prevent lawyers who are convicted of these offences from charging legal costs in relation to the claim, and to require them to refund any costs already charged.

Please see the exposure draft Bill (PDF, 237.6 KB) and related background paper (DOCX, 139.0 KB) for further information.

Have your say

Have your say by 5pm, Friday 7 February 2025.

Submit your feedback by:

• Email: policy@dcj.nsw.gov.au
• Mail: Policy, Reform and Legislation Branch, Department of Communities and Justice, Locked Bag 5000, Parramatta, NSW, 2124.

Submissions may be published. If you would like your submission to remain confidential, please let us know when making your submission.

If you are unable to make a written submission, please email policy@dcj.nsw.gov.au.

Background information

Claim farmers are individuals or organisations who target people that may be personal injury or abuse victims by contacting them without their consent and encouraging them to lodge civil compensation claims often by using high-pressure and misleading tactics.

Claim farmers may present themselves as “claims management services” or similar, and charge referral fees to sell the claim to a law practice or another claim farming organisation.

Claim farming activities can have negative and traumatic impacts, particularly on people who are victim-survivors of abuse. Prohibiting claim farming in NSW would help to protect the community from these predatory and exploitative claim farming practices.