Last verified: 2026-08-29 · Source: primary legislation and official status tables
Recovering a debt from a debtor in Australia
What applies, what it realistically takes, and where the limits are.
Confirmed parameters
Only values checked against a primary source appear here. Where a parameter has not been confirmed, it is left out rather than estimated.
- Parameter
- Limitation period for an action on a simple contract
- Value
- 6 years in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland
- Source
- Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) s. 14(1)(a); Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) s. 5(1)(a); Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) s. 10(1)(a)
- Last verified
- 2026-08-31
Enforcement route
The applicable route for this jurisdiction is recorded as reciprocity. The New York Convention applies to arbitral awards.
Practical constraints
Statutory demand under the Corporations Act — a lever
Pages for a debtor in Australia
- Debt collection in Australia
- Judgment enforcement in Australia
- Insolvency-driven recovery in Australia
- Director liability claims in Australia
- Interim relief and asset preservation in Australia
- Trade and freight debt recovery in Australia
- Receivables sale and assignment in Australia
- How to recover an unpaid B2B invoice in Australia
What we do here
Debtor in Australia?
The Debt Check is free and tells you whether the claim is worth pursuing.
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