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Connellan v Murphy [2017] VSCA 116
15th Jun 2017

In 2015, one of the biggest litigation hurdles faced by survivors of child abuse in Victoria was removed by the passage of the Limitations of Actions Amendment (Child Abuse) Act 2015 (Vic) (the Act), which amended the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic). The Act removed previously restrictive limitation periods that applied to actions relating to death or personal injury resulting from child abuse. The amendments acknowledged the significant difficulties survivors face in pursuing claims for childhood abuse, as highlighted by both the 2013 findings of the Victorian Government’s Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations and the current federal Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. However, by virtue of the introduction of s27R of the Act, a court’s power to summarily dismiss or permanently stay proceedings was expressly preserved.

https://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/opinion/connellan-v-murphy-2017-vsca-116

http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2017/116.html

On 22 May 2017, the Supreme Court of Victoria’s Court of Appeal invoked s27R to permanently stay proceedings relating to the alleged sexual assault of a minor in 1968 for the first time. The decision in Connellan v Murphy [2017] VSCA 116 is one that is cause for concern for survivors of abuse.