Personal injury time limits in Queensland: the 3-year rule and when it can be extended

The personal injury time limit in Queensland is not one deadline but two kinds of clock running at once. The first is the limitation period: the outer limit for starting a court proceeding, which for most injury claims is 3 years. The second is the set of scheme deadlines added on top, such as the pre-court notices for CTP and public liability claims and the WorkCover application for statutory compensation, which are much shorter and usually fall due first.

This article explains the 3-year rule, where it does not apply or runs differently, how a court can extend it, and how the CTP, WorkCover and other notice deadlines fit around it.

The general rule: 3 years from when the cause of action arose

The starting point is s 11(1) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld). An action for damages for negligence, trespass, nuisance or breach of duty, where the damages claimed include damages for personal injury, must not be brought after the end of 3 years from the date on which the cause of action arose. The rule covers duties arising under a contract or a statute as well as the ordinary duty of care.

The limitation period governs starting a court proceeding. It is not the deadline for telling the other side about a claim, which comes much earlier under the scheme rules discussed below.

The Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) makes one point about this expressly. Its notice deadline can run from the first appearance of symptoms, but s 9(9) declares that this does not determine or affect when the cause of action arose for limitation purposes. A later notice date does not, by itself, move the 3-year clock.

The main deadlines at a glance

The table sets out the deadlines most often in play. Where a deadline has two limbs, the one that ends first is the one that counts.

Claims with no limitation period

Two categories sit outside the 3-year rule altogether.

• Dust-related conditions. Under s 11(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld), a right of action for personal injury resulting from a dust-related condition is not subject to a limitation period. Under s 11(3), injury resulting from tobacco use or tobacco smoke is expressly excluded.
• Child abuse. Under s 11A, an action for damages for personal injury resulting from sexual abuse or serious physical abuse suffered as a child, or psychological abuse connected with it, may be brought at any time. The court keeps its power to dismiss or stay a proceeding where the passage of time means a fair trial is no longer possible. The ordinary notice timing and late-notice rules in s 9(3) and s 9(5) of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) also do not apply to these claims (s 9(9C)).

Children and people under a disability

The limitation period runs differently for a person who was under a disability when the right of action accrued. Under s 5(2), a person is under a disability while they are a minor or of unsound mind. Section 5(3) adds cases where a person is conclusively presumed to be of unsound mind, including while they are an involuntary patient under Queensland’s mental health legislation.

For personal injury, s 29(2)(c) provides that the action must be brought within 3 years from the date the person ceased to be under the disability, or died, whichever came first. The age of majority is 18 under s 17 of the Law Reform Act 1995 (Qld), so for a child injured in an ordinary negligence case the limitation period generally ends 3 years after their 18th birthday.

That longer period applies to starting court proceedings. It does not switch off the scheme notice rules. Under s 9(4) of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), a child’s parent or legal guardian may give the notice of claim on the child’s behalf.

Extending the limitation period: material facts of a decisive character

Sometimes a person does not learn something important about their injury, or about who caused it, until the 3 years are nearly over or have passed. Section 31(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) lets a court extend the period in that situation. The court must be satisfied of two things:

• a material fact of a decisive character relating to the right of action was not within the applicant’s means of knowledge until a date after the start of the last year of the limitation period; and
• there is evidence to establish the right of action, apart from a defence based on the limitation period having expired.

If both are shown, the court may extend the period so that it ends 1 year after the date the fact came within the applicant’s means of knowledge. The power is discretionary: meeting the two conditions makes an extension available, not automatic. Under s 31(3), the application can be made even after the period has expired.

What counts as a material fact

Section 30(1)(a) lists material facts. They include the fact that negligence or a breach of duty occurred, the identity of the person responsible, the fact that it caused personal injury, the nature and extent of the injury, and the extent to which the injury was caused by the negligence or breach.

When a fact is decisive

Under s 30(1)(b), material facts are decisive only if a reasonable person knowing them, and having taken appropriate advice, would regard them as showing two things: that an action would have a reasonable prospect of success and of producing an award of damages large enough to justify bringing it, and that the person ought, in their own interests and circumstances, to bring it. Under s 30(2), appropriate advice means advice from people qualified on the medical, legal and other aspects of the facts.

Means of knowledge and reasonable steps

Under s 30(1)(c), a fact is outside a person’s means of knowledge only if they did not know it and had taken all reasonable steps to find it out. Not knowing is not enough on its own. A person who could have found the fact out with reasonable inquiry, for example by seeking medical or legal advice, may not meet the test. Whether a late-emerging fact, such as an injury proving far more serious than first thought, satisfies these tests is a question of evidence in each case.

How the scheme notice deadlines sit on top

The scheme deadlines in the table above are measured in months, not years. The CTP and public liability notices are steps that must be taken before court proceedings; the WorkCover application is for statutory compensation, and a later WorkCover damages claim has its own notice process. Three points sit behind them.

• A missed notice deadline is not the end of the notice obligation. Under s 9(5) of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) and s 37(3) of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld), a late notice must still be given, with a reasonable excuse for the delay. The exception is the Nominal Defendant: s 37(3) bars that claim outright if notice is not given within 9 months of the accident. Our article on CTP claim time limits covers the CTP rules in detail.
• The lawyer limb can end first. The 1-month limb in both s 9(3) and s 37(2) runs from first instructing or consulting a lawyer, so it can end well before the 9-month limb.
• WorkCover has its own waiver rules. The insurer may waive the lodgement limits in s 131(1) and s 131(2) of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) where the delay was due to mistake, absence from the State or a reasonable cause (s 131(6)).

When a notice given in time protects the limitation period

Because the pre-court steps take time, each scheme has a rule for claims where the 3 years run out while those steps are under way.

• Public liability and other general injury claims. Under s 59 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), if a complying Part 1 notice is given before the limitation period ends, proceedings may be started after it ends, but only within 6 months after the complying notice is given or leave is granted, or a longer period the court allows. Section 43 also lets the court give leave to start an urgent proceeding before the pre-court steps are complete; that proceeding is then stayed until they are.
• CTP. Under s 57 of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld), the same structure applies where notice is given before the limitation period ends: proceedings may be brought within 6 months after the notice is given or leave is granted, or a longer period the court allows.
• WorkCover damages. Under s 302 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), a damages proceeding is brought within the general limitation period. It can be brought later only if a complying notice of claim, or one of the other listed steps, was in place before that period ended and the other conditions are met, and the proceeding must then be brought within 60 days after the compulsory conference.

The common thread is that these rules protect a claimant who acted before the 3 years ran out. They do not help where nothing was done in time. In an ordinary claim where no disability or no-limitation category applies, the main statutory route is then an extension under s 31(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld), and only where its conditions are met.

Published 28 October 2026.

Where this leaves an injured person

The 3-year limitation period is the outer limit, not the working deadline. In most claims, the scheme notice deadlines measured in months arrive well before it, and the protections that keep a claim alive past the 3 years generally depend on a notice having been given in time. The extension for late-discovered decisive facts is real but narrow, and it turns on evidence about what was known and what reasonable steps were taken. The current text of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) is published on the Queensland legislation website, and our guide to personal injury law in Queensland covers the main claim categories.

Related reading

• CTP claim time limits in Queensland
• Personal injury law in Queensland: categories and time limits
• Hit and run in Queensland: how Nominal Defendant claims work
• How Fraser Lawyers helps with personal injury matters
• Contact Fraser Lawyers

This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Queensland law and the figures referred to can change, and every situation turns on its own facts. Contact Fraser Lawyers for advice specific to your circumstances.

If you would like to discuss your matter, you can book a consultation or call (07) 5554 6116.