Statement of claim and defence

A Statement of claim is a document that provides further details of what the applicant (you) says the issues are, and what laws you say the employer broke. It is sometimes called 'points of claim'.

The Judge may make an order that you file and serve a Statement of claim at the first directions hearing, or at a further directions hearing. They may order that you file 'Points of claim' instead, but they are basically the same thing, although points of claim can be less formal.

You only need to do this if the Court made an order about you filing and serving a Statement of claim or 'points of claim'. You should check the orders made by the Court at the directions hearings for your case.

Before preparing, filing or serving your Statement of claim, you should get legal advice.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia does not have a set form. However, you can use the Federal Court of Australia Statement of claim form and amend it to include the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia's details.

You can get a copy of a blank Statement of claim from the:

• · NSW Federal Court registry, or
• Forms under the Federal Court Rules 2011 page on the Federal Court of Australia website. 

A Statement of claim (or points of claim) should set out what your claim is against your employer. You should use numbered paragraphs which state each of the important points of your case. These are called 'pleadings'. Some pleadings may need 'particulars', which are the facts that support the pleadings.

If you don't know what to put in a Statement of claim, you should get legal advice.

Sample Statement of claim

You will need to file your Statement of claim and serve (give) a copy on your employer. Make sure you file and serve it by the time ordered by the Judge at the directions hearing.

If the Court orders you to file a Statement of claim (or points of claim), it will also order that your employer file and serve a Defence (or points of defence) by a certain date.

A Defence is a document that responds to your Statement of claim. Generally, a Defence will respond to each separate paragraph (pleading) in your Statement of claim. If a Defence 'admits' a paragraph of the Statement of claim, this means that the employer agrees with that paragraph. If a Defence 'denies' a paragraph, this means that the employer does not agree with that paragraph.

Sample Defence

If you have been served with a Defence, you should get legal advice about the issues raised by your employer.​