How to Respond to an NTCAT Small Claim in the Northern Territory

To respond to an NTCAT small claim, you file a Form 2 Response with NTCAT and serve a copy on the applicant. The deadline is the date set in the standard orders that came with the claim: neither the NTCAT Act nor the NTCAT Rules sets a fixed number of days. If you were ordered to respond and do not, the claim can go to an uncontested hearing and orders can be made in your absence.

This guide is for the person being claimed against (the respondent). If you want to start a claim yourself, see our guide to the NTCAT application.

What you receive

An NTCAT claim starts with a Form 1 Initiating Application. NTCAT seals it and returns it to the applicant, usually with standard orders. The applicant must then serve both the sealed Form 1 and the orders on you. A proceeding will not continue unless the respondent has been served (NTCAT: serving documents).

Read the standard orders first. NTCAT says they “apply to all parties and specify who has to do what and when”.

A small claim is a claim under the Small Claims Act 2016 (NT) to recover money, have work done, be relieved from paying money, or have goods returned or replaced, up to the small claims limit of $25,000. Costs and interest are not counted towards that limit.

The response form: Form 2 Response

The form is the Form 2 Response. Under rule 6(1) of the NTCAT Rules, a person served with an initiating application who wants to oppose it, or otherwise wants to be heard, must file a response in the approved form and serve a copy on each other party named in the application. The current approved form is Form 2.

What Form 2 asks

The current form is the February 2020 revision. It has four parts and a signature block:

• Part A: Parties. The file number, the applicant as named in the Initiating Application, and your name.
• Part B: Respondent information. Your name, address, email, landline and mobile. An email address you give will be used for service of documents and notices.
• Part C: Representative details, if someone is acting for you.
• Part D: Details of response. The “decision or order you want NTCAT to make”, and the “reasons why NTCAT should make that decision or order (one page maximum)”.

NTCAT’s guide to completing the form adds these points:

• If you dispute the claim, you might ask NTCAT to dismiss the application, in whole or in part.
• Give a brief summary of the facts you rely on, no longer than one page. Concentrate on the facts you want to prove, not the evidence that proves them.
• Make clear any of the applicant’s facts you do not dispute.
• If the applicant has named a party incorrectly, raise it in your response.
• Do not attach evidence. NTCAT will make orders about how and when to provide it.

The form is on the NTCAT forms page, and the guide to completing it is published separately. NTCAT prefers to receive forms by email. If you cannot send them electronically, you can post them or lodge them at the Casuarina or Alice Springs registry (NTCAT: filing documents). Anything you send to NTCAT must also be sent to all other parties.

The deadline, and whether there is a fee

There is no fixed response period in the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2014 or the NTCAT Rules. NTCAT says the standard orders “will state if a response is required and when it must be provided to the applicant and NTCAT” (NTCAT: responding to an initiating application). NTCAT can also order that a party need not file a response (rule 6(6)).

If you cannot meet a date in the orders, notify NTCAT immediately. Other requests, such as an adjournment, are made on a Form 3 Ordinary Application.

NTCAT’s fee schedule as at 1 July 2026 lists no fee for filing a Form 2 Response. It says “in all cases the applicant must pay the NTCAT fee”. There is no fee for the first day of a hearing (NTCAT fees as at 1 July 2026).

Bringing your own claim (a counter-claim)

If you have a claim against the applicant, you may be able to include it in your Form 2 Response. Rule 6(2) allows a respondent to include in a response a claim for relief against the applicant, with these limits:

• it can only concern a matter NTCAT has power to deal with (rule 6(3)). For a small claim, that means a claim of the kinds listed above, up to $25,000;
• it must be sufficiently connected to the issues in the applicant’s claim; and
• if it is not, NTCAT may disallow it (rule 6(4)) and direct you to start a separate proceeding with your own Form 1 Initiating Application.

The form has no separate counter-claim section. The fee schedule lists no fee for a counter-claim in a Form 2, but a fee is generally payable on a Form 1 Initiating Application (NTCAT: fees).

What happens if you do not respond

NTCAT says: “Failure to file a response when so ordered may result in the matter proceeding to an uncontested hearing and orders being made in the absence of the respondent.” At that hearing the member makes a final order or orders about further steps (NTCAT information sheet: uncontested hearings).

If the claim is for a debt or other fixed sum, NTCAT can instead make a default decision ordering you to pay, after the applicant files a declaration of the amount still owing (section 101A; NTCAT’s Form 7).

NTCAT can set aside a default decision if you had a reasonable excuse (section 101B). You must apply by 4:00 pm on the day 28 days after the decision, extended only in exceptional circumstances (rule 15A).

The compulsory conference or mediation

NTCAT can require the parties to attend a compulsory conference (section 107) or mediation (section 118). A compulsory conference aims to clarify the issues and promote a settlement (section 108).

• All parties must attend. NTCAT says failing to attend without good reason may result in an order to pay costs or expenses wasted by the other party.
• It is run by an NTCAT member or the Registrar, is confidential and is not a hearing. Two hours is usually allocated.
• Bring evidence that supports your response. NTCAT prefers parties to attend in person, but you can apply on a Form 3 to attend by Microsoft Teams or telephone (NTCAT information sheet: compulsory conferences).
• If you settle, the member can make orders to give effect to the settlement (section 112). If not, NTCAT makes orders so the matter can go to a hearing.
• What is said at the conference cannot be used at the hearing unless all parties consent (section 111).

NTCAT may also hold a short directions hearing to set the next steps. Ignoring its orders can lead to a costs order or late evidence being refused (NTCAT: types of hearings).

The hearing

A final hearing is held when the dispute has not settled. From NTCAT’s day of the hearing page:

• Arrive at least 15 minutes before the start time.
• Hearings are sound recorded.
• Address the member as “Mr”, “Ms” or “Dr” and their surname. There is no need to stand.
• The applicant usually presents their case first, and you then respond.
• NTCAT is not bound by the rules of evidence, but must apply the rules of procedural fairness.

In most cases NTCAT must give its written decision within 28 days after the hearing (section 105).

In a small claim you can appear by a lawyer only with NTCAT’s leave (Small Claims Act 2016 s 7). Parties generally bear their own costs (section 131), but a party who is substantially successful may be awarded its filing and service fees (section 132(1A)).

What to bring

By the hearing, both parties should have exchanged their evidence and given it to NTCAT. You may not be allowed to rely on evidence you did not provide when ordered. Bring:

• copies (paper or electronic) of all the evidence you and the applicant intend to rely on;
• notes of the points you want to emphasise;
• a brief chronology of key events in date order, which NTCAT says often helps the member; and
• your documents organised in a folder and labelled logically, for example by date and a short description.

Where Claim Done fits

Claim Done’s Tribunal Response costs a flat $129. It produces separate PDFs: a response summary, a defence position statement, a chronology and an evidence list. You review them and file your response yourself.

Our Hearing Script costs $29. It is a plain-English script for the hearing day, for NT tribunal hearings.

Claim Done is not a law firm. It does not lodge or serve documents, and it cannot promise a result.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to respond to an NTCAT claim?

There is no fixed number of days. The standard orders served with the claim say whether you must file a response and by what date. If you cannot meet that date, notify NTCAT immediately.

Is there a fee to file an NTCAT response?

NTCAT’s fee schedule as at 1 July 2026 lists no fee for filing a Form 2 Response, and says the applicant must pay the NTCAT fee. A fee is generally payable if you file your own Form 1 Initiating Application.

Can I make a counter-claim against the applicant?

Yes, in your Form 2 Response, if it is sufficiently connected to the applicant’s claim and is a matter NTCAT can deal with. If not, NTCAT may direct you to file your own Form 1 Initiating Application.

What happens if I ignore an NTCAT small claim?

If you were ordered to respond and do not, the matter may go to an uncontested hearing and orders can be made in your absence. For a debt or fixed sum, the applicant can ask for a default decision ordering you to pay.

Do I have to attend the compulsory conference?

Yes, if NTCAT lists one. All parties must attend. Not attending without good reason may lead to an order to pay costs or expenses wasted by the other party.

Can I have a lawyer for an NTCAT small claim?

Only with NTCAT’s leave. Under the Small Claims Act 2016, a party to a small claim can appear by a lawyer only with the Tribunal’s leave.

This is general information, checked October 2026, and is not legal advice.