The Limitation of Actions Act and contribution claims under the Wrongs Act at VCAT

Many readers will be aware of the ongoing issues at VCAT resulting from certain limits to its jurisdiction. I recently wrote a post here relevant to the exercise by the Tribunal of ACL jurisdiction. That does not address the ongoing issues with the Statute of Limitations and contribution claims under the Wrongs Act. However, a legislative fix to those problems is now working its way through Victorian Parliament.

The Limitation of Actions Act

Earlier posts here and here discuss recent findings by the Court and VCAT that the Limitation of Actions Act does not apply to VCAT.

The Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 (Vic) has been passed by the Legislative Assembly (the lower house) and is currently being debated by the Legislative Council (the upper house).

Section 73 of the Bill seeks to amend the definition of Court in s 3 of the Limitation of Actions Act so that it will read as follows:

action includes any proceeding in a court of law or in VCAT;

The following transitional provision is also proposed to be added to the Limitation of Actions Act:

39B Transitional—2023 amending Act

The amendment made to this Act by section 73 of the Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2023 applies on and after the commencement of Division 3 of Part 10 of that Act to causes of action whether accruing before, on or after that commencement.

Once passed, those amendments should restore the normal operation of the Limitation of Actions Act to proceedings in VCAT.

Wrongs Act contribution claims

Justice Delany, sitting as a judicial member of VCAT in Vaughan Constructions Pty Ltd v Melbourne Water Corporation (Building and Property) [2023] VCAT 233, held that VCAT also did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine contribution claims under Part IV of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic).

This had a significant impact on a large number of building and construction cases in the Building and Property list at VCAT, many of which involve claims for contribution from contractors and sub-contractors. Retail tenancies disputes are also heard in the Building and Property List.

It did not have a direct impact on any retail leasing disputes that I am aware of, as contribution claims rarely arise in those cases. However, it has had an indirect impact on the conduct of those cases, as it has caused a number of large cases to be transferred out of the Building and Property list and into the Supreme Court, freeing members to hear more retail tenancies disputes.

However, the issue is also addressed by the new legislation, s 98 of the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 (Vic) will, when passed, give VCAT jurisdiction over contribution claims in the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), and should address this problem.

This post originally appeared on samhopperbarrister.com