When is the deadline for personal injury limitation period (act: 3 years)?
The catalogue records a 3 years period from the day the injury happened. This draft page remains free only until its source, worked example and limits are reviewed.
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Calculation basis and source
- Period
- 3 years
- Trigger
- the day the injury happened
- Counting
- The encoded calculator method must be independently documented before publication.
- Rollovers and holidays
- Holiday, closure and order treatment must be independently documented before publication.
This route remains in preparation until a pinpoint official source is recorded.
- No discretionary extension is available. Limitation Act 1985 (ACT) s 36 (5): "this section does not apply in relation to a cause of action to which any of the following applies: (a) section 16AA (Motor accident claims); (b) section 16B (Other claims for damages for personal injury); (c) the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002, part 3.1 (Wrongful act or omission causing death)". The only movement in this period comes from Limitation Act 1985 (ACT) s 30 (the running of the period is suspended for the duration of a disability, and under s 30 (1) (f) the period is extended to end 3 years after the earlier of the day the person last ceases to be under a disability and the day of the person's death) and, for a child, s 30A.
- This is the ACT-specific rule and it differs from other Australian jurisdictions. The ACT period is 3 years and it is expressed as a bar on actions "brought 3 years or more after" the relevant day, so the action must be commenced before the third anniversary. Section 16B does not apply to a cause of action to which s 16 (compensation to relatives), s 16A (workers compensation common law claims) or s 16AA (motor accident claims) applies. There is no separate ACT long-stop of the kind found in some other states. Corrected on verification: the researched entry said the court may extend this period under Limitation Act 1985 (ACT) s 36 (2) if it is just and reasonable to do so. It may not. Section 36 (5) (b) expressly excludes a cause of action to which s 16B applies from the whole of s 36 (Limitation Act 1985 (ACT) A1985-66, republication 28, effective 26 November 2025, ACT legislation register). The exclusion has stood since A2003-35 s 62. Treating the ACT 3-year personal injury period as extendable on application is the most dangerous error a practitioner could take from this catalogue. Also corrected: the statement that there is no ACT long-stop is too broad, because s 30B (3) (b) imposes a 12-year long-stop on a child's claim relating to the provision of a health service.