Build a missing-witness and missing-records chronology where a stay is in prospect
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the documents the lawyer selects, build a dated table of complaints, records still held, records the file says are lost, and people the file says have died or cannot be found, with a document and a page for every row. Do not say whether a stay should be granted, and do not write a response to a stay application.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether a fair trial is still possible. A removed limitation period does not decide that question.
- Treat a permanent stay as a last resort, as the High Court did, in the context of the New South Wales section.
- Read the State's own guideline before you assume the State will, or will not, seek a stay.
- Keep the file in the firm's system. Confidentiality, APP 11 and a notifiable-breach check apply.
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: NSWVICQLD
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the documents the lawyer selects, build a dated table of complaints, records still held, records the file says are lost, and people the file says have died or cannot be found, with a document and a page for every row. Do not say whether a stay should be granted, and do not write a response to a stay application. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Every unavailable witness and every lost record is tied to a document. A memory of the client, with no document, is marked as such and left out of the table.
- Do not write that a stay will fail because the limitation period was removed. Each opened section keeps the stay power.
- Where the defendant is the State, record the published guideline that was opened for that State, including whether it is binding.
- Do not draft the affidavit or the submissions in answer to a stay. The lawyer writes anything that is filed.
Sources
- Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) s 27R, interaction with other powers of the court · 2026-10-23
- Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) s 11A, no limitation period for actions for child abuse · 2026-10-23
- Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) s 6A, no limitation period for child abuse actions · 2026-10-23
- High Court of Australia, judgment summary, GLJ [2023] HCA 32 (1 November 2023) · 2026-10-23
- Victorian Government, Common Guiding Principles for child sexual abuse civil claims · 2026-10-23
- Queensland Government, whole-of-government guidelines for civil litigation involving child abuse (November 2022 v1) · 2026-10-23
- NSW Government Guiding Principles for agencies responding to civil claims for child abuse · 2026-10-23
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, APP 11, security of personal information · 2026-10-23
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.
Before any output is used in a court document, read the forum's generative AI rule: Victoria, Supreme Court Practice Note SC Gen 25; New South Wales, Practice Note SC Gen 23; Queensland, the courts' generative AI page and Supreme Court Practice Direction 5 of 2025.