A Release of Liability (waiver) is a contract in which one party waives their right to make a legal or financial claim against another individual or organisation in the event of a dispute.

People often sign waivers in exchange for compensation, like the ability to participate in a certain activity or money to cover medical expenses or property damage. Compensation makes a contract such as a waiver legally binding and enforceable.

For instance, if you are involved in a car accident, you may agree not to sue the person responsible for the collision in exchange for enough money to cover the damage. Or, perhaps you sign a waiver before going on a bike ride with a sports group, acknowledging that you understand the physical risks involved and are willing to participate anyways.

The main difference between these two contracts is that people typically sign a waiver as a precaution before an incident occurs or anyone brings any claims forward.

Waivers are common practice in the entertainment and tourism industry where people often participate in risk-related activities (e.g., renting a car or boat, skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.). With a signed waiver, protection from liabilities exists regardless of whether or not disputes or damages occur.

In contrast, people can sign a release before or after a dispute arises. Signing a release allows one party to free another from the liabilities associated with both known and unknown claims.

Still, people often use the terms waiver and release interchangeably and generally understand them to mean that one party agrees not to pursue legal action against another party.

Liability waivers differ depending on the situation, but generally contain information about:

• The party that waives their right to take legal action (i.e., the releasor)
• The party that caused or has potential to cause the other harm (i.e., the releasee)
• The activity or incident in question
• The agreed-upon settlement (such as financial restitution or participation in an activity)

To help you easily write a Release of Liability that suits your needs, LawDepot provides a variety of customisable templates, including a:

• General release of claims
• Motor vehicle accident release
• Activity waiver and release
• Damage to personal property release
• Debt settlement release
• Personal injury release
• Mutual release

LawDepot's Release of Liability templates contain a statement of concurrent release, in which the releasor acknowledges the waiving of their rights. With a mutual release, the statement of concurrent release is an acknowledgement by both parties.

In most release templates, there's also a clause stating that the settlement is not an admission of liability. However, this clause isn't included in the activity waiver because there's no need to address liability (as nothing has happened yet).

These terms are important because they clearly and explicitly communicate the intention of terminating the releasee's liability.

Liability waivers can protect an individual or organisation from being held responsible for injuries or damages that may arise from a risky situation. With this contract in place, parties can often avoid an unnecessary legal battle and resolve a dispute outside of court.

This document is particularly helpful for entertainment or tourism businesses because it communicates the risks of a certain activity to a participant.

For example, a company that rents boats may do their best to maintain the quality and performance of their equipment. However, they cannot control how a person operates a boat or the weather conditions that may affect their trip on the water. In this case, a waiver would communicate these risks and protect the company from being held liable for any injuries resulting from misuse of the equipment.

Without a Release of Liability, a harmed individual could exercise their right to seek legal recourse.

Although Australian courts will generally respect a waiver agreement between two parties, there are some situations in which they may be unwilling to enforce the contract.

For instance, a waiver cannot override the law. If the agreement conflicts with public policy, courts are unlikely to enforce it.

Similarly, companies cannot use a Release of Liability to waive their obligations to provide reasonable care. Failure to use the appropriate degree of care often results in gross negligence, which courts consider a civil wrong.

Other factors that might influence a court's decision to enforce a waiver include:

• Ambiguous language
• The releasor's lack of capacity to understand the contract completely
• If it appears one party was coerced or taken advantage of by the other

In these situations, a releasor may still be able to sue despite signing a Release of Liability.