ACTIn ForceAct
Limitation Act 1985
34Mistake
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 34
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Limitation Act 1985.
34 Mistake
(1) Subject to subsection (3), if there is a cause of action for relief from
the consequences of a mistake, the time that elapses after a limitation
period fixed by or under this Act for the cause of action begins to run
and before the date when a person having (either solely or with other
persons) the cause of action first discovers, or may with reasonable
diligence discover, the mistake does not count in the reckoning of the
limitation period for an action on the cause of action by him or her or
by a person claiming through him or her.
(2) Subsection (1) has effect whether the limitation period for the cause
of action would, apart from this section, end before or after the date
mentioned in that subsection.
(3) If property is, after a transaction in which a mistake is made,
purchased for valuable consideration by a person who does not, at the
time of the purchase, know or have reason to believe that the mistake
has been made, subsection (1) does not apply to a limitation period
for a cause of action for relief from the consequences of the mistake
against the purchaser or a person claiming through him or her.
Postponement of bar Part 3
Personal injuries, latent damage to property and economic loss Division 3.2
Section 35
R28
26/11/25
Limitation Act 1985
Effective: 26/11/25
page 33
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Division 3.2 Personal injuries, latent damage to
property and economic loss
35 Application of div 3.2
This division applies in relation to a cause of action referred to in
section 16, 16A, 36 (1) or 38—
(a) that accrued before or after the commencement of this Act; and
(b) for a cause of action that accrued before the commencement of
this Act—whether or not proceedings have been instituted
before the commencement of this Act.