South Australian Consolidated Acts

LIMITATION OF ACTIONS ACT 1936 - NOTES

Legislative history

Notes

• Please note—References in the legislation to other legislation or instruments or to titles of bodies or offices are not automatically updated as part of the program for the revision and publication of legislation and therefore may be obsolete.

• Earlier versions of this Act (historical versions) are listed at the end of the legislative history.

• For further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.

Legislation repealed by principal Act

The Limitation of Actions Act 1936 repealed the following:

The Limitation of Suits and Actions Act 1866

Legislation amended by principal Act

The Limitation of Actions Act 1936 amended the following:

Supreme Court Act 1878

The Trustee Act 1893

Principal Act and amendments

New entries appear in bold.

Year	No	Title	Assent	Commencement
1936	2268	Limitation of Actions Act 1936	13.8.1936	13.8.1936
1948	45	Limitation of Actions Act Amendment Act 1948	22.12.1948	22.12.1948
1956	17	Limitation of Actions and Wrongs Acts Amendment Act 1956	8.11.1956	8.11.1956
1959	33	Limitation of Actions Act Amendment Act 1959	3.12.1959	3.12.1959
1972	58	Statutes Amendment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1972	27.4.1972	18.5.1972 (Gazette 18.5.1972 p1926)
1975	21	Limitation of Actions Act Amendment Act 1975	27.3.1975	27.3.1975
1993	39	Limitation of Actions (Mistake of Law or Fact) Amendment Act 1993	20.5.1993	17.6.1993 (Gazette 17.6.1993 p1974)
1994	41	Limitation of Actions (Recovery of Taxes and Substantive Law) Amendment Act 1994	2.6.1994	2.6.1994: s 2(1) except ss 3, 5 & 6—9.6.1994 (Gazette 9.6.1994 p1669)
2003	44	Statute Law Revision Act 2003	23.10.2003	Sch 1—24.11.2003 (Gazette 13.11.2003 p4048)
2004	9	Law Reform (Ipp Recommendations) Act 2004	8.4.2004	Pt 3 (ss 73—76)—1.5.2004 (Gazette 29.4.2004 p1172)
2005	50	Defamation Act 2005	27.10.2005	Sch 1 (cll 6 & 8)—1.1.2006: s 2
2005	78	Dust Diseases Act 2005	8.12.2005	Sch 1 (cl 2)—8.2.2006: s 2
2006	44	Statutes Amendment (Justice Portfolio) Act 2006	14.12.2006	Pt 18 (ss 30 & 31)—18.1.2007 (Gazette 18.1.2007 p234)

Provisions amended since 3 February 1976

• Legislative history prior to 3 February 1976 appears in marginal notes and footnotes included in the consolidation of this Act contained in Volume 6 of The Public General Acts of South Australia 1837-1975 at page 19.

New entries appear in bold.

Entries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.

Provision	How varied	Commencement
Long title	amended by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
Pt 1	heading inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
s 2	deleted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
s 3
child	inserted by 9/2004 s 73	1.5.2004
limitation law	inserted by 41/1994 s 3	9.6.1994
Pt 2
Pt 2 heading	heading preceding s 4 deleted and Pt 2 heading inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
Pt 3
Pt 3 heading	heading preceding s 31 deleted and Pt 3 heading inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
Pt 4
Pt 4 heading	heading preceding s 33 deleted and Pt 4 heading inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
s 33
s 33(3)	s 33(2) second sentence designated as s 33(3) by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
Pt 5
Pt 5 heading	heading preceding s 34 deleted and Pt 5 heading inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
Pt 6
Pt 6 heading	heading preceding s 35 deleted and Pt 6 inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
s 36
s 36(1a)	inserted by 78/2005 Sch 1 cl 2	8.2.2006
s 37	substituted by 50/2005 Sch 1 cl 6	1.1.2006
s 38	substituted by 39/1993 s 3	17.6.1993
s 38(2)	substituted by 41/1994 s 4(a)	2.6.1994
s 38(3a) and (3b)	inserted by 41/1994 s 4(b)	2.6.1994
s 38(4)
1994 amending Act	inserted by 41/1994 s 4(c)	2.6.1994
s 38A	inserted by 39/1993 s 3	17.6.1993
	substituted by 41/1994 s 5	9.6.1994
s 39	amended by 44/2006 s 30	18.1.2007
s 40	amended by 44/2006 s 31	18.1.2007
Pt 7
Pt 7 heading	heading preceding s 45 deleted and Pt 7 heading inserted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
s 45
s 45(2)	amended by 9/2004 s 74	1.5.2004
s 45A	inserted by 9/2004 s 75	1.5.2004
heading preceding s 46A	deleted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
heading preceding s 47	deleted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003
s 48
s 48(3a) and (3b)	inserted by 9/2004 s 76	1.5.2004
heading preceding s 50	deleted by 44/2003 s 3(1) (Sch 1)	24.11.2003

Transitional etc provisions associated with Act or amendments

Limitation of Actions (Recovery of Taxes and Substantive Law) Amendment Act 1994

6—Application of substituted s 38A

The amendments made by section 5 (substituting section 38A of the principal Act) extend to a cause of action that arose before the commencement of that section unless court proceedings based on the cause of action had been started before the commencement of that section.

Law Reform (Ipp Recommendations) Act 2004, Sch 1

1—Transitional provision

(1) The amendments made by the Law Reform (Ipp Recommendations) Act 2004 (the Ipp Recommendations Act) are intended to apply only prospectively.

(2) If a cause of action that is based wholly or partly on an event that occurred before the commencement of the Ipp Recommendations Act arises after the commencement of the Ipp Recommendations Act, it will be determined as if the amendments had not been enacted.

Example—

Suppose that A was exposed to asbestos in 1990 but a resultant illness is not diagnosed until after the commencement of the Ipp Recommendations Act. An action is then brought in negligence in which damages are claimed for personal injury. The amendments made by the Ipp Recommendations Act would not affect the determination of liability or the assessment of damages.

(3) As soon as practicable after the expiration of 3 years from the commencement of this Schedule, the Economic and Finance Committee must investigate and report to the Parliament on the effect of the Ipp Recommendations Act on the availability and cost of insurance to persons.

Defamation Act 2005, Sch 1

8—Application of amendments to Limitation of Actions Act 1936

(1) Section 37 of the Limitation of Actions Act 1936 as re-enacted by Part 5 clause 6 of this Schedule (the substituted section) applies to the publication of defamatory matter on or after the commencement of that section, unless subclause (2) provides otherwise.

(2) The provisions of the substituted section do not apply to a cause of action for the publication of defamatory matter that accrues after the commencement of that section (the post-commencement cause of action) if—

(a) the post-commencement cause of action is one of 2 or more causes of action in proceedings commenced by a plaintiff; and

(b) each cause of action in the proceedings accrues because of the publication of the same, or substantially the same, matter on separate occasions (whether by the same defendant or another defendant); and

(c) one or more of the other causes of action in the proceedings accrued before the commencement of the substituted section (a pre-commencement cause of action); and

(d) the post-commencement cause of action accrued no later than 12 months after the date on which the earliest pre-commencement cause of action in the proceedings accrued.

(3) The existing limitation law continues to apply to the following causes of action in the same way as it would have applied to those causes of action had the substituted section not been enacted:

(a) any cause of action that accrued before the commencement of the substituted section;

(b) any post-commencement cause of action to which the substituted section does not apply because of subclause (2).

(4) In this clause—

existing limitation law means the provisions of the Limitation of Actions Act 1936 that applied in relation to the limitation period for defamation actions immediately before the commencement of the substituted section.

Historical versions

Reprint No 1—17.6.1993
Reprint No 2—9.6.1994
Reprint No 3—24.11.2003
1.5.2004
1.1.2006
8.2.2006