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Enforcing court orders about general protections dismissal

Information about how to enforce orders made by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia about general protections dismissal.

About enforcement

If your employer does not follow an order to reinstate you, they may be in contempt of court. It is possible for the Federal Court of Australia or Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia to punish parties that are in contempt of court.

If the Court has made orders about your employer paying you money and they have not done so, there are things you can do to try and force them to follow the orders. This process is called 'enforcement'.

There are different types of enforcement options, including:

  • a writ / warrant for seizure and sale of property
  • order for possession of land or delivery of goods
  • charging order (e.g. charge over shares or money in a financial institution)
  • redirection / attachment / garnishee of debts or earnings / instalment order
  • enforcement hearing / oral examination / means of inquiry

To enforce a judgment of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, you need to:

  • apply to the Federal Court of Australia
  • take action through the Supreme Court of NSW.

Apply to the Federal Court of Australia

To apply to the Federal Court of Australia, you need to file:

  • a Request for Enforcement (Form NCF6)
  • an Affidavit (Form 59)
  • supporting documents.

You can get a copy of the:

The Request for Enforcement and supporting documents should be filed via eLodgment.

You do not have to pay a filing fee.

A Registrar will consider the Request for Enforcement and, if satisfied that the request and supporting documents are in an appropriate form, issue the enforcement process.

For more information, see Enforcement, Endorsement and Contempt Practice Note (GPN-ENF) on the Federal Court of Australia website.

Take action through the Supreme Court of NSW

Once the enforcement process is issued any further steps to enforce and execute the judgment should then be taken in the Sheriff's office of the Supreme Court of NSW.

If the judgment debt is more than $10,000 and your employer is an individual, you can apply to a court to have them declared bankrupt. Before taking this action, you should get legal advice. This is an expensive and complex way of enforcing the judgment. 

If your employer is a company, it can be wound up. To wind up a company you must show that it is insolvent (unable to pay its debts). This can be done by issuing a statutory demand. If the judgment debtor company does not respond to a statutory demand within 21 days you can file an application for a winding up order. Before taking this action you should get legal advice. This is an expensive and complex way of enforcing the debt.

Enforcing court decisions is complicated and you should get  legal advice about the best steps to take.  

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