The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) was built for ordinary Queenslanders to resolve disputes without a lawyer. The minor civil disputes jurisdiction handles claims up to $25,000 — unpaid invoices, consumer disputes, debt recovery, and dividing fences — under the QCAT Act 2009 and the QCAT Rules 2009. The process is simpler than the Magistrates Court but not so simple that mistakes don’t cost weeks.
Step-by-step before you file
Step 1: Send a Letter of Demand first. QCAT expects parties to attempt resolution before filing. A written demand also creates evidence the respondent had a chance to pay. Step 2: Confirm jurisdiction. The dispute must be under $25,000 and fit a recognised category (minor debt, consumer claim, residential building work under $25k, or dividing fences). Step 3: Identify the respondent correctly. Use the legal name — for sole traders, the individual’s name; for companies, the exact ACN-registered name from the ASIC register. Step 4: Calculate the filing fee. The minor civil dispute fee scales with the claim amount, currently from around $26 (claims under $500) up to several hundred dollars for the maximum claim. Step 5: Gather your evidence. Contracts, invoices, communications, photographs, witness statements — indexed and chronological.
Common pitfalls of self-represented applicants
Three errors keep recurring. Suing the wrong entity — naming a trading name instead of the company is the most common reason QCAT amendments are needed. A vague chronology — the QCAT member needs dates, amounts, and documents, not narrative. Asking for relief QCAT cannot give — the tribunal can order payment of money and certain consumer remedies, but cannot order someone to apologise or “stop being unreasonable”.
What the document does
A QCAT Application (Form 3 for minor civil disputes — minor debt, or the relevant form for your category) tells the tribunal who you are, who the respondent is, what happened (with dates), what you want, and why QCAT has jurisdiction. It is the document the QCAT member reads before the hearing — get it right and you have already won the framing.
What Claim Done delivers
For a flat $79, Claim Done drafts your QCAT Application package — the correct form for your dispute category, proper respondent identification, a clean chronology, your relief sought under the right section of the QCAT Act, and an evidence index ready for filing through the QCAT portal or counter. About 15 minutes in the wizard, no solicitor appointment.
What happens after
QCAT typically lists minor civil disputes for hearing within 8–14 weeks of filing. If you are heading to a hearing, the next document you will need is a Hearing Bundle — your evidence indexed and paginated for the member — which Claim Done also drafts as a flat-fee service.