How to Respond to a VCAT Application Filed Against You in Victoria

There is no formal deadline to respond to a VCAT goods and services application: VCAT’s respondent page sets out no response form and no response deadline, and you put your side at the hearing. What VCAT does require: for an in-person hearing, you must send the applicant copies of the documents you plan to use as evidence at least 14 days before the hearing (for a phone or video hearing, VCAT’s respondent page sets a different rule, tied to your notice), and you must follow the dates in any VCAT timetable order. A counterclaim is a separate application. If an order is made at a hearing you missed, you have 14 days from finding out about it to apply for a review and rehearing.

For the forms, fees and each step, see our guide to making an VCAT application.

That does not mean you can wait for the hearing and wing it. This guide covers what you have received, your options, how to set out your side in writing, what to send and when, and what happens if you do nothing. Every VCAT fact links to the VCAT page it comes from. The figures are for goods and services disputes, heard in what VCAT’s case pages call the Civil Claims List; residential tenancies and other case types have their own pages on VCAT’s site.

What you have received

Two different things can reach you. VCAT sends the respondent its own notice. Separately, VCAT’s practice note PNCCL1 (effective 27 June 2026) makes it the applicant’s responsibility to serve the application on each respondent with all the supporting documents they filed with the Tribunal. So the applicant should send you everything VCAT has seen from them. If their documents have not arrived, VCAT’s respondent page says what to do.

Read it all once through, then again with a pen:

• Who is claiming, and against whom. Check you, or your business, are the right respondent.
• What they want. The amount, work to be done, or other orders, and how the amount adds up.
• What they say happened. Mark each statement you agree with, disagree with, or cannot confirm.
• Their documents. Note anything missing, altered, or taken out of context.
• Dates. Any hearing date, and later the dates in VCAT’s timetable order.

If the paperwork calls it the Civil Claims List or the Consumer and Business Disputes practice area, it is the same thing: PNCCL1 says new practice areas replaced the former lists from 1 February 2026, while VCAT’s goods and services page still uses the old name.

Is there a deadline to respond to a VCAT application?

Some guides give a fixed number of days to “file a response”. VCAT’s respondent page for goods and services disputes sets out no response form and no response deadline. The dates that do matter are:

• The timetable order. VCAT sends an order that sets a timetable for documents: about 16 weeks after it accepts the application according to its apply page, or about 20 weeks after it receives it according to its after-you-apply page. Treat every date in it as a deadline.
• 14 days before an in-person hearing. The respondent page says you must send copies of any documents you plan to use as evidence to the applicant at least 14 days before the hearing. If you are attending by phone or videoconference, follow the instructions on that page and in your notice instead.
• The hearing or mediation. VCAT says to expect about 52 weeks from the date the application was made.

No deadline to respond is not a reason to wait. The time to write your side down is while you still remember it and your documents are easy to find. What happens next, stage by stage, is in what happens after a VCAT application is lodged.

Your options

1. Dispute the whole claim

You say you owe nothing, or should not have to do what the applicant asks, and you set out why with documents.

2. Admit part of the claim

You accept some of it but not all. For example, you agree money is owed but not the full amount, you admit a defect but you offered to repair it, or you accept responsibility for some of the damage but not the rest. Admitting what is true and disputing the rest narrows what VCAT has to decide.

3. Settle

You can talk to the applicant at any stage: a reduced amount, a payment plan, a repair or a refund. Put any offer in writing, and put any agreement in writing with the amount, the payment date and what happens if a payment is missed. A deed of settlement records the terms in one document.

4. Do nothing

The hearing can go ahead without you, and an order can be made without VCAT hearing your side. VCAT’s respondent page deals with exactly that: if you missed the hearing, you can apply for a review and rehearing, but you need to do it within 14 days of finding out about the order. Relying on that is a poor plan.

Check whether the claim belongs at VCAT at all

Before arguing the facts, check the basics. If any of these apply, say so plainly and early in your written response:

• VCAT does not hear this kind of dispute. For example, VCAT lists disputes between neighbours about fences under what it can’t help with (VCAT apply page).
• It is out of time. VCAT says applicants generally must apply within six years of the dispute.
• You are the wrong respondent. For example, the contract was with a company, not with you personally, or with a different business.
• It has already been decided or settled. Keep the order or the signed settlement.

What to admit, what to deny, and what to dispute

Go through the application line by line. What you admit in writing is hard to walk back later, so be precise:

• Admit only what you genuinely agree with. “I agree that I hired the applicant to paint my house on 15 March 2026.” “I agree that the quoted price was $3,500.”
• Deny what is false or exaggerated, and say why. “I deny that the work was finished to an acceptable standard. The photos at pages 4 to 9 show paint on the windows and bare patches on the north wall.”
• Say when you cannot confirm something. “I cannot confirm that the applicant spent 40 hours on the job. The invoice does not break down the hours.”

If the applicant says you owe $5,000 and you believe you owe $2,000, say so and show how you get to $2,000.

How to set out your response

Some guides refer to a VCAT “statement of grounds” or a “response to application” form. VCAT’s respondent page for goods and services disputes sets out no response form. A clear written response still helps you: it puts your side in order for the applicant, for any mediation and for the Member at the hearing. Set it out like this:

1. Your details and the VCAT reference number.
2. A short summary of your position in two or three sentences.
3. Your response to each allegation, in numbered paragraphs: admit, deny or cannot confirm, with reasons.
4. Your version of events, in date order.
5. Your defence: why the claim fails or is overstated (see common defences below).
6. The documents you rely on, numbered, with an index, referred to by number in the text.
7. What you want VCAT to order, for example that the claim be dismissed, or that a lower amount be paid.
8. Signed and dated.

Write in plain English and leave out anything personal about the applicant that does not go to the facts. Claim Done’s Tribunal Response ($129) drafts this from your answers: a response summary, a defence position statement, a chronology and an evidence list, each as its own document.

Gather and send your evidence

Collect every document that supports your version:

• Contracts, quotes and invoices
• Emails, text messages and letters
• Photos or videos showing the condition of goods, work or property
• Bank statements, receipts or other payment records
• Inspection reports or a tradesperson’s assessment
• Signed statements from people who saw what happened, limited to what they saw or heard themselves

If you say you paid, show the receipt. If you say the goods were fine when supplied, show the photos. If you say the applicant agreed to a change, show where they agreed. Then send copies of everything you plan to rely on to the applicant at least 14 days before an in-person hearing, as VCAT’s respondent page requires, and keep a record of when and how you sent it. Our guides to preparing evidence for VCAT and putting together an evidence bundle go further.

Common defences in VCAT goods and services disputes

• Payment already made: the invoice was paid, the refund was given, or the debt was settled.
• The goods or work met the agreement: they matched the contract or quote, or the fault came from misuse after supply.
• The contract was varied or ended: both sides agreed to change the scope or price, or to end the job.
• The applicant breached first: for example, they did not pay a progress payment, which entitled you to stop work.
• The amount is overstated: the costs claimed are more than the loss, or include items outside the agreement.
• The applicant did not limit their loss: they did not take reasonable steps to reduce it.
• No contract with you: there was no agreement, or it was with someone else.

Each defence needs documents behind it. Emails, photos and invoices written at the time carry more weight than a version that is simply asserted.

Filing a counterclaim at VCAT

If the applicant owes you money from the same dealings (you are the builder they say did poor work, and they never paid your last invoice, for example), you can bring your own claim. VCAT’s respondent page treats a counterclaim as a separate application. It is not a box on a response form. Check VCAT’s pages for how to make it and what fee applies. See how to lodge a VCAT application and VCAT fees 2026. For a counterclaim, Claim Done’s Tribunal Application ($97) drafts the application from your answers.

Mediation or compulsory conference

At the end of the timetable, VCAT decides whether the case goes to a hearing or to mediation (VCAT apply page). If it is mediation or a compulsory conference:

• Bring all your documents, in order.
• Know your best and worst acceptable outcomes before you walk in.
• If you act for a business, bring authority to agree a settlement.
• If you settle, get the terms in writing before you leave.

The hearing

For a goods and services claim under $15,000, VCAT’s representation page says you generally can’t have a lawyer or other professional representative, so expect to present your own case. Above $15,000, a representative needs VCAT’s permission unless an automatic right applies.

• Bring your written response, your numbered documents and an index, with spare copies.
• When it is your turn, walk the Member through your documents in date order.
• When you question the applicant, ask short questions rather than making speeches, and keep to what is in dispute.
• Make sure your witnesses arrive on time and speak only to what they saw or heard themselves.
• Stay calm. Anger and personal attacks do not help your credibility.

After the decision

Missed the hearing? Apply for a review and rehearing within 14 days of finding out about the order (VCAT respondent page).

Think the decision is legally wrong? An appeal is only on a question of law, with leave, to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria (or the Court of Appeal if VCAT’s President or a Vice President decided it), and must start within 28 days of the date of the VCAT order (VCAT: appeal a decision).

Ordered to pay? VCAT does not enforce its own orders, but the applicant can have a money order of $100,000 or less enforced through the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (VCAT: enforce an order). What that involves is in enforcing a VCAT order in Victoria. If you cannot pay in one go, raise a payment plan with the applicant early and put it in writing.

Common mistakes respondents make

• Ignoring the application because there is no stated response deadline. The hearing can go ahead without you.
• Missing the timetable dates in VCAT’s order, or the 14-day evidence deadline before an in-person hearing.
• Not sending your evidence to the applicant. Documents you have not sent them in time may cause problems at the hearing.
• A vague response. “I disagree” is not a defence. Say why, and point to the document that shows it.
• Admitting the full amount when you only owe part. Admit what is true, dispute the rest, and show the difference.
• Arriving without documents. Without them, the Member has little reason to prefer your version.

How Claim Done helps you respond to a VCAT application

Claim Done’s Tribunal Response is a flat $129. You answer plain questions about the claim and your side of it, and tell us what documents you have. From your answers you get four documents, each as its own PDF: a response summary, a defence position statement, a chronology and an evidence list. You check every fact, then you send your evidence to the applicant and use the documents at VCAT yourself. Claim Done does not file or serve anything for you, and is not a law firm.

Start your Tribunal Response: $129 | About the Tribunal Response

Frequently asked questions

What is the deadline to respond to a VCAT application in Victoria?

For goods and services disputes, VCAT’s respondent page sets out no response form and no deadline to respond. It does require you to send the applicant copies of the documents you will use as evidence at least 14 days before an in-person hearing (phone and video hearings follow the instructions in your notice), and you must follow the dates in VCAT’s timetable order. You put your side at the hearing.

What happens if I do not respond to a VCAT application?

The hearing can go ahead and an order can be made without you. If that happens, VCAT’s respondent page says you can apply for a review and rehearing within 14 days of finding out about the order.

Is there a VCAT response form or statement of grounds?

VCAT’s respondent page for goods and services disputes sets out no response form and does not mention a statement of grounds. A clear written response, with numbered paragraphs and an index of your documents, is still the best way to put your side before the Member.

Can I file a counterclaim at VCAT?

Yes, as a separate application. VCAT’s respondent page says a counterclaim is a separate application, rather than part of a response. Check VCAT’s pages for how to make it and what fee applies.

Do I need a lawyer to respond to a VCAT application?

No. For a goods and services claim under $15,000, VCAT says you generally can’t have a lawyer or other professional representative, so you present your own case.

Can I appeal a VCAT decision if I lose?

Only on a question of law, with leave, and you must start within 28 days of the date of the VCAT order. If you missed the hearing, there is also the application for a review and rehearing, within 14 days of finding out about the order.

Can Claim Done prepare my VCAT response documents?

Yes. The Tribunal Response ($129) drafts a response summary, defence position statement, chronology and evidence list from your answers. You review them and use them yourself; Claim Done does not file or serve them.

Facts checked against VCAT’s pages on 27 September 2026. VCAT’s pages carry no “last updated” date, so each fact is linked to the page it comes from.