RC v Ballarat and Queens Anglican Grammar School [2025] VSC 680 (Link to Jade).
This ruling dealt with an application by the school for a separate determination of a preliminary question (application of s 27O of the Limitations of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) (‘LAA’) to the claims made by RC;)
RC alleged that Ballarat Grammar knew that students were abusing each other and that it was reasonably foreseeable he would suffer psychological injury as a result of being abused.
Ballarat Grammar argued that all or some of the acts and omissions pleaded by RC were not acts of physical, sexual or psychological abuse. Ballarat Grammar argued that, to the extent the claim by RC is for injury that is the result of an act or omission that is not child abuse, the time for bringing the action has expired in accordance with pt IIA div 5 of the LAA, and that there should be no extension of the limitation period granted in accordance with div 3 of that part.
The court said that preliminary determination of a question is generally not appropriate unless the outcome may put an end to the action; where there is a clear line of demarcation between the preliminary issue and the facts in issue at trial; and where convenience and cost factors weigh in favour of the preliminary trial. In the circumstances of this matter, a separate determination order was not made.
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