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Tracy Bennett

Partner

Perth

+61 8 6317 0412 0417 906 915

Tracy has worked for Moray & Agnew Perth since its inception in 2011, more than 10 years ago. She was admitted to legal practice in 2000 and over the last two decades she has predominately worked in defendant insurance law and litigation.

Experience & Expertise

Tracy has advised and represented insurers and their clients in a range of contexts. She has acted for both government and commercial insurers, practising extensively in the areas of general liability, (medical) treatment liability, workers compensation and property damage.  She has appeared in the Magistrates, District and Supreme Courts, the Conciliation & Arbitration Service (WorkCover), the Compensation Magistrates Court (as it then was, on appeals in workers’ compensation matters) and the State Administrative Tribunal. Tracy has also been involved in coronial inquests and has handled WorkSafe prosecutions.

Tracy has instructed and supervised junior solicitors in the areas of personal injury, general liability, property damage and commercial litigation. She also provides in-house training, continuing professional development, at Moray & Agnew.

Tracy has achieved favourable and early resolution of many claims through detailed ‘Calderbank’ letters setting out the evidence and strengths of her client’s defence.  As a result, on a number of occasions, plaintiffs have been persuaded to ‘walk away’. 

She has conducted numerous settlement and pre-trial conferences over a 20 year period, achieving favourable resolutions.

Tracy has successfully negotiated settlement in the vast majority of litigated claims she has managed either prior to or at pre-trial conference stage. In many cases, Tracy has persuaded the plaintiff to abandon his/her claim or to release her client from multi-party proceedings.

Tracy has also successfully negotiated costs recovery from plaintiffs on a number of occasions. 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In the early 2000s, Tracy handled a personal accident insurance matter for the Insurance Commission of Western Australia (ICWA). That case was concerned with the question whether the relevant policy operated as a contingency policy or an indemnity policy such that ICWA enjoyed rights of subrogation in respect of payments made to an injured volunteer sea rescue member. ICWA was unsuccessful in pursuing recovery at first instance: ICWA v Kightly [2004] WADC 4; ICWA was successful on appeal to the Court of Appeal: ICWA v Kightly [2005] WASCA 154; ICWA  successfully resisted an application for leave to appeal to the High Court.

This case is now a regularly cited authority.

Awards

Ranked in the peer-reviewed Best Lawyers® in Australia list for

  • Personal Injury Litigation since 2024
  • Insurance Law 2025
  • Medical Negligence 2025

Recognition

Tracy has run training sessions for claims officers for both government and a commercial insurer (at their request).  She has also conducted a seminar for various government agencies on the topic of court practice and procedure.

In 2016, Tracy presented to the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) on the topic of ‘Utility Asset Damage – Legal Issues Arising’.

Expertise

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Laws, 1998, Murdoch University
  • Bachelor of Arts, 1998, Murdoch University

Memberships

  • Law Society of Western Australia
  • Australian Insurance Law Association
  • Australian Professional Indemnity Group