Limitation periods in New South Wales
Most civil claims have a deadline. Miss it and a claim that would have succeeded can be defeated on that ground alone, without anyone looking at the merits.
General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.
Section 14 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) sets a general period of six years for causes of action founded on contract and on tort, running from the date the cause of action first accrues.
The date it accrues can be earlier than the date you found out, and for some claims the legislation starts the clock differently again. Some causes of action run on different periods under the same Act. If any date in your dispute is more than a few years old, get advice now rather than after you have gathered everything.
What a limitation period is
A limitation period is the time within which proceedings have to be commenced. In New South Wales the general periods for civil claims are set by the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), and other legislation sets its own periods for particular kinds of claim. When the period expires, the claim is generally no longer maintainable.
It is not a mere technicality. Limitation periods exist because evidence decays: documents are destroyed, businesses close, witnesses move away and memories become unreliable. A rule that claims must be brought while they can still be fairly tried protects both sides.
What matters for you is that it operates as a defence. A defendant can rely on the expiry of the limitation period to defeat a claim, and a court will generally give effect to that whatever the underlying merits.
Commencing proceedings means filing the originating process in the right court. Sending a letter of demand, complaining to the other side, or negotiating does not stop the clock.
The general period: six years
Section 14 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) provides that an action on a cause of action founded on contract, or on a cause of action founded on tort, is not maintainable if brought after the expiration of a limitation period of six years running from the date on which the cause of action first accrues.
That covers ordinary civil disputes: breach of contract, unpaid debts, negligence causing property damage or economic loss, and a great many others. The date the period runs from matters as much as its length, and it is not always the date you would expect.
Section 14 itself carves out a cause of action founded on a deed, which runs on a longer period under the same Act. Whether your document is a deed or an ordinary contract is therefore worth settling early, and it is a question about the document rather than about what the parties called it.
When the clock starts
The period runs from when the cause of action first accrues, which means when all the elements of the claim exist and you could have sued. Accrual is generally not the date you discovered the problem, and it is never the date you decided to do something about it. For some kinds of claim the legislation starts the clock at a different point — personal injury is one — so accrual is the general rule rather than the only one.
For a breach of contract that is usually the date of the breach. For an unpaid invoice it is usually the date payment fell due. For negligence it is generally when the damage occurs, which can be considerably earlier than when the damage becomes obvious.
That gap is where claims are lost. A defect that appears five years after the work was done may already be most of the way through its period, because the clock started when the damage occurred rather than when it was noticed. If your dispute involves something that went wrong quietly, treat the dates as urgent.
Work out your dates from your own documents and take advice on them. Nothing on this page can tell you when your cause of action accrued, because that depends on facts a web page does not know.
Claims that run on different periods
Six years is the general rule, not the only one. The Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) sets different periods for a number of causes of action, and other legislation sets its own periods for particular kinds of claim.
Three are worth knowing. Defamation runs on a shorter period than the general one, with only a limited power for a court to extend it. Personal injury runs on its own provisions, which work differently from the general rule. And claims under separate statutory schemes, including motor accident and workplace injury schemes, have their own timetables and notification requirements entirely.
Tribunals have their own limits as well. NCAT states that a consumer claim about goods or services must be made within three years from when the problem arose, and that the supply must have occurred within the previous ten years.
The practical point is not to memorise any of this. It is to assume that your claim may run on something other than six years, and to check rather than assume.
- Defamation — much shorter than the general period. See our page on defamation.
- Personal injury — governed by its own provisions in the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), which do not work like the general rule.
- Motor accident and workplace injury claims — separate statutory schemes, with their own time limits and notification steps.
- Claims on a deed — a longer period than the general six years, under the same Act.
- Consumer claims at NCAT — the Tribunal states its own limits on its consumer claims page.
- Enforcing a judgment — subject to its own rules and timeframes once you have one.
Things that can change the date
A limitation period is not always a simple count from a single date, and a claim that looks out of time is sometimes not.
In a debt matter, a written acknowledgement of the debt or a part payment can affect when time runs. That works both ways: chasing an old debt may be possible where the debtor has acknowledged it, and a debtor who makes a small payment on a very old debt may be doing more than they realise.
Where a person was under a disability when the cause of action accrued, the Act makes separate provision. There are also provisions dealing with fraud and with concealment.
The Act contains limited powers to extend a period in defined circumstances. They are limited, they are not available for every kind of claim, and they should never be relied on as a plan.
None of this is a reason to wait. It is a reason to get advice on an old claim instead of assuming it is dead — and a reason to act now on one that is alive.
What to do if a date may be close
Say so at the very first contact, before anything else. A limitation problem changes the order in which everything happens: filing to protect the claim may have to come before the negotiating, the gathering of documents and the careful assessment that would normally come first.
Do not wait until you have everything. A complete file that arrives after the period has expired is worth less than an incomplete one that arrives in time.
Do not rely on the other side’s goodwill. Parties sometimes agree to extend time by a standstill arrangement, but that is an agreement to be recorded properly in writing, not an understanding that negotiations are ongoing.
If you think a deadline may be near, put the dates in the first line of your message to us rather than at the end of the story.
What usually happens
Write down the dates
When the agreement was made, when the work was done, when payment fell due, when it went wrong, when you first noticed. From documents, not memory.
Identify what kind of claim it is
Contract, tort, defamation, personal injury, consumer, or a claim under a separate statutory scheme. The category decides which period applies.
Find when the cause of action first accrued
The date you could first have sued, which can be earlier than the date you found out about the problem. Under the general rule that is the date the period runs from; some claims, including personal injury, run from a different point.
Check whether anything affects the clock
An acknowledgement or part payment of a debt, a disability, concealment, or an agreed standstill recorded in writing.
Act while there is still time to act properly
If a period is close, protecting the claim by filing may have to come before the negotiation. That is a decision to make deliberately, with advice.
Common questions
How long do I have to bring a civil claim in New South Wales?
For most contract and tort claims, section 14 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) sets six years running from the date the cause of action first accrues. Other causes of action run on different periods under the same Act, and some claims fall under separate statutory schemes. Check which category your claim is in rather than assuming six years.
Does the clock start when I found out?
Generally not. It runs from when the cause of action first accrues, which is when all the elements of the claim existed and you could have sued. For breach of contract that is generally the breach; for negligence it is generally when the damage occurred. Discovery and accrual can be different dates, and the gap between them is where claims are lost. Some claims are the exception — personal injury runs on its own provisions, which start from a different point — so check which rule applies to yours.
Does sending a letter of demand stop the clock?
Sending one does not stop a limitation period running, and neither does negotiating or complaining to the other side. Commencing proceedings in the right court is what stops it. Two things can still affect the dates: in a debt matter an acknowledgement or a part payment can affect when time runs, and parties can agree a standstill where it is recorded properly in writing. Our guide to letters of demand covers what a first letter can and cannot do.
My claim is seven years old. Is it definitely over?
Not definitely. It depends on what kind of claim it is, when the cause of action actually accrued, and whether anything affected when time ran — an acknowledgement or part payment in a debt matter, for example. It is worth one conversation to find out rather than assuming either way.
Can a court extend a limitation period?
In limited circumstances, for some kinds of claim, under provisions in the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW). Extensions are not routine and are not available across the board. Treat the period as fixed and the extension as something you would rather never have to argue about.
What if the other side agrees to give me more time?
Parties can agree to a standstill, but it must be recorded properly in writing and it must say exactly what it covers. An understanding that negotiations are continuing is not an extension of a statutory limitation period, and a defendant who later relies on the Act is entitled to do so.
Related
If a date is close
Tell us the dates first and the story second. Where a limitation period is near, protecting the claim may have to happen before anything else.