AZX v The Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Townsville
[2025] QSC 59 · Sullivan J
The plaintiff, a woman who as a young teacher aged 20 was allegedly sexually assaulted by a Christian Brother at a Queensland school in 1978, applied to a court for permission to bring her damages claim decades later. Because the alleged assault happened when she was an adult, not a child, the usual removal of time limits for child abuse did not help her, so she needed an extension of the three-year limitation period. She argued she only recently understood, after a psychiatrist's 2023 report, that her psychiatric conditions were caused by the abuse. The court found she had known of that connection by early April 2023, and that a reasonable person with proper advice would have realised then that she should sue. Because she filed too late after that point, and did not adequately explain the delay, the judge refused the extension. Her underlying claim could not go ahead.
Incident & injury
Alleged sexual assault by a Brother at a school where the plaintiff was a young teacher
- Body regions
- Psychiatric
- Diagnoses
- Alcohol Use Disorder (alcohol dependence), Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Episodic Panic Disorder (chronic relapsing and treatment resistant), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Incident date
- 3 February 1978
- Location
- A Christian Brothers' school in Queensland
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 3 April 2025
- Claim type
- Historical Abuse
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Unsuccessful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- 20
- Occupation
- Teacher Professional
Outcome
The plaintiff's application for an extension of the limitation period under s 31(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) was dismissed. The court found that by 3 April 2023 there was a critical mass of material facts within the plaintiff's means of knowledge showing a decisive connection between the alleged 1978 sexual assault and her psychiatric conditions, such that the limitation period had already expired by the time the substantive proceeding was filed on 31 May 2024. The substantive proceeding was also ordered to be dismissed.
Key issues
AZX v The Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Townsville [2025] QSC 59
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