If you want to know the extent of how frivolous claims these days have become, you only need to look at “loss of consortium”. This law, still current in Queensland, allows people to sue under public liability law to recover damages for a reduced sex life.

“The claims are for loss of comfort, society and assistance, including diminished sexual relations,” said David Muir, an insurance lawyer with law firm Deacons. “Consortium claims can add $5000-$10,000 to the quantum of public liability claims and this can add an additional burden that defendants can ill-afford,” he said.

All states except Queensland have abolished loss of consortium. Mr Muir said Queensland is “out of step” for its 1989 legislation that went “against the national trend” and allowed both husbands and wives to sue for this kind of claim.

“These claims have been correctly labelled by the courts as a relic of a bygone age,” he said. “Loss of consortium claims go back to a time when women were regarded as chattels.”