Serving documents

Almost every document you file in the High Court needs to be served or given to the other party in the proceeding. It is the plaintiff’s responsibility to serve their documents on the defendant, and the defendant’s responsibility to serve their documents on the plaintiff. This includes information about when and where a hearing or conference will take place.

Find out more about serving documents in part 6 of the High Court Rules 2016(external link)

You can serve documents by:

  • giving it to the other party
  • posting it to their address or leaving it at that address between 9am and 5pm
  • sending it to a post office box, document exchange box, email address or fax number given to you by the other party for the purposes of service
  • another method that the court may tell you.

You do not need to serve documents on the other party when you are filing an interlocutory or originating application without notice.

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