Section 30(1)(c)(ii) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) requires assessment of what can reasonably be expected of the actual applicant in her particular circumstances, not what a hypothetical reasonable person would do. An applicant's psychiatric condition, including avoidance behaviour that is itself a symptom of the condition caused by the defendant's breach, is relevant to whether the applicant has taken all reasonable steps to discover a material fact. Where a person has suffered multiple traumas in childhood, the causal connection between a particular trauma and psychiatric symptoms may constitute a material fact of a decisive character not within the person's means of knowledge until expert diagnosis. The obiter dicta in Hopkins v State of Queensland suggesting that the desire not to pursue the issue, even if caused by the psychiatric injury itself, cannot be accommodated within s 31, does not correctly state the law.
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