The comparison below treats Ms Ley’s quoted line “accountability must be extended to anyone who was aware of what was happening and had the power to act” as given and compares it against the well-documented legal/coronial “ought to have known” standard.
The Core Overlap
Both formulations reject a purely formal test of accountability — “were you the person who did the act?” – in favour of a broader test based on knowledge and capacity to intervene. Ley’s standard (“aware of what was happening and had the power to act”) and the coronial test (“what ought you have known and done about the risk and its management”) share the same two-part logic:
- A knowledge element – actual or constructive awareness of the problem.
- A power/capacity element – the ability to have done something about it.
Under Australian negligence law, this is essentially the codified breach-of-duty test: a person is not liable unless the risk “was foreseeable (that is, a risk of which the person knew or ought reasonably to have known)” and a reasonable person in their position would have taken precautions. Coroners apply an analogous logic when examining whether an organisation or individual identified a risk, or should have, and whether the response was adequate given what was known or knowable at the time.[1][2]
Where the Two Diverge
The Key Legal Nuance Ley’s Line Skips
The negligence/coronial standard explicitly includes constructive knowledge – you don’t escape accountability just because nobody told you. The test is whether a reasonable person in your position, given your role, seniority, and access to information, ought to have known, regardless of actual awareness. The Australian civil liability framework specifically instructs courts to weigh the probability of harm, its likely seriousness, the burden of taking precautions, and the social utility of the activity, when deciding whether a “reasonable person” would have acted.[1][3]
Ley’s phrasing — “anyone who was aware” — reads as a narrower, actual-knowledge standard on its face. If someone plausibly claims they didn’t know, her framing arguably lets them escape scrutiny, whereas the coronial test would still ask whether they should have known given their position and the information reasonably available to them. This is precisely the gap that recurs in institutional failure findings: senior figures often argue ignorance, and the coronial/negligence standard is specifically constructed to prevent that defence from being conclusive on its own.
Practical Read the Universal Framework
This maps neatly onto the E1/E2/E3 logic in the Universal Framework.
A “knew or ought to have known” standard is really an E1/E2 test – did an information/escalation process exist, and was the person enabled (through position, access, or reporting lines) to receive that information – regardless of whether they personally chose to look.
Ley’s narrower “was aware” framing risks collapsing accountability down to E3 only (did they demonstrably know and fail to act), which is a materially easier bar for an accountable person to clear than the coronial standard most governance and audit findings are actually built on.
Sources
[1] Understanding the Elements of Negligence https://www.odysseylegal.com.au/understanding-the-elements-of-negligence/
[2] Negligence https://content.nfplaw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Negligence.pdf
[3] LAWS1061 Revision Notes https://s3.studentvip.com.au/notes/15859-sample.pdf
[4] Review of the Law of Negligence Final Report https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/R2002-001_Law_Neg_Final.pdf
[5] principle in the duty of care in negligence https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/law/unsw-law-journal/2000-2009/Vol-No-23-2-11.pdf
[6] 7. Foreseeability, Standard of Care, Causation and Remoteness of … https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/R2002-001_Foreseeability.pdf
[7] file https://judicialcollege.vic.edu.au/media/886/file
[8] MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE: THE CONTOURS OF … https://law.nus.edu.sg/sjls/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2024/07/1584-1997-sjls-jul-86.pdf
[9] Chapter summary – ch 3 – introduction to torts (negligence) https://store.thomsonreuters.com.au/product/AU/files/720506676/chapter_summary_21e___ch_3.pdf
[10] Secretary of State for Justice, R (on the application of) v HM Deputy … https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5a8ff7b960d03e7f57eb18c5
[11] 1 https://s3.studentvip.com.au/notes/17847-sample.pdf
[12] Determining Breach of Duty of Care in Negligence Cases https://www.studocu.com/en-au/document/university-of-melbourne/torts/breach/61954198
[13] 2A. Breach of Duty of Care (Different Attempt) Flashcards https://www.brainscape.com/flashcards/2a-breach-of-duty-of-care-different-atte-6319539/packs/9395429
[14] Table of Contents https://s3.studentvip.com.au/notes/6260-sample.pdf
[15] Deprivation of liberty, death and Article 2 https://www.ukinquestlawblog.co.uk/dols-death-and-art2/
[16] Transcript 40682 https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-40682
[17] How the Liberals’ first female leader found herself here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-13/sussan-ley-liberals-leadership-spill/106325896
[18] Australian minister Sussan Ley resigns over expenses scandal https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38592391
[19] Sussan Ley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussan_Ley
[20] Sussan Ley praised for ‘standing up for democracy’ as Labor’s freedom of information crackdown looks set to fail https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/13/sussan-ley-praised-for-standing-up-for-democracy-as-labors-freedom-of-information-crackdown-looks-set-to-fail
[21] Sussan Ley: Does Liberal Party drama show Australian politics still has a problem with women? https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g5pjn3p50o
[22] 7.30: What Sussan Ley did to recover after 25 years in … https://iview.abc.net.au/show/7-30/series/0/video/SEGS2026107025616
[23] Sussan Ley: From punk pilot to a scandal-triggered resignation https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-13/sussan-leys-time-in-the-office/8180824
[24] Tim Wilson gives second first speech https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/jul/29/australia-politics-live-albanese-tariff-trade-trump-us-question-time-sussan-ley-net-zero-parliament-gaza-palestine-ntwnfb
[25] How the Liberals will justify Sussan Ley’s ousting https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-08/sussan-ley-liberals-coalition-leadership-spill-angus-taylor/106295860
[26] As Liberals’ New Leader, Sussan Ley Makes History https://thediplomat.com/2025/05/as-liberals-new-leader-sussan-ley-makes-history-but-faces-unprecedented-difficulties/
[27] Paddy Gourley https://johnmenadue.com/authors/paddygourley/
[28] Coalition Calls for Commonwealth Royal Commission into … https://www.liberal.org.au/2025/12/22/coalition-calls-for-commonwealth-royal-commission-into-the-bondi-attack-and-antisemitism
[29] Statement – The Coalition – The Hon. Sussan Ley MP https://sussanley.com/statement-the-coalition/
[30] Andrew Hastie’s resignation is a grenade in the lap of Sussan Ley. With the Liberal leader’s weakness now out in the open, the Opposition need to act fast to avoid an all-out mutiny: PETER VAN ONSELEN https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15159381/Andrew-Hasties-resignation-sussan-ley-PVO.html
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