NSW Removal of Limitation Periods for Appeals Against Stays of Child Abuse Claims

Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024

Private Member's Bill

5 Jun 2024: MPs in the first house are debating whether this bill is a good idea in principle.

Legislative Council

Legislative Assembly

Assent

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Topics

child abuse court proceedings institutional liability legal appeals limitation periods victim rights

Introduced by: Jeremy Buckingham MLC (LCP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Appellants can appeal a court's decision to stay child abuse proceedings regardless of time limits; this applies to decisions made on or after 17 March 2016.
Courts must treat staying proceedings as a last resort; it can only happen in exceptional cases.
The passing of time or lost evidence cannot be used as an exceptional reason to stay a child abuse claim.
Courts can set aside agreements that prevent child abuse actions if the agreement is not just and reasonable.
Courts can also set aside such agreements if a party previously suggested or applied for a stay of the action.
The law confirms that life-long harm can delay claims for decades; loss of evidence is common in these cases.
Institutional defendants are defined as any organisation; this includes public sector bodies but excludes the State.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Daniel Mookhey ALP

“The Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024 has been introduced by my good friend the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham.”

Official source →

Susan Carter LIB

“I contribute to debate on the Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024. There is no crime worse than the abuse of children.”

Official source →

Sue Higginson GRN

“I contribute to debate on the Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse shone a light on old, dark and far-reaching shadows. What was so horrifying about all that it exposed was that it was never far from view. How had we failed to hear these stories until now?”

Official source →

Stephen Lawrence ALP

“I speak against the Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024. In my inaugural speech I said that I would defend the fair trial in this place, including from those who come with saintly intentions and high-minded arguments. The member who introduced this bill is definitely such a person. His intentions in introducing this bill are saintly.”

Official source →

Wes Fang NAT

“I contribute to debate on the Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024. I commend the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham for introducing the bill and for his steadfast views on the issues of child sexual abuse and stays. I am sympathetic to what he is trying to achieve. I heard loud and clear the concerns of members that there are constitutional legal issues surrounding the bill.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Limitation and Civil Liability Amendment (Permanent Stays) Bill 2024

The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM — 2024-05-15

This bill simply enshrines the case law created by GLJ into statute law. In doing so, it removes some of the uncertainty for all parties: survivors, certainly, but also defendants and courts. It also has the added value of relative simplicity. By including an object clause to the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), section 6A limits the ability for a defendant to argue for a permanent stay simply because of the passage of time.