Served With a Tribunal Application in New South Wales? Your Next Steps

An NCAT application has landed — by post, email, or hand delivery. With it comes a notice of listing with a date and a file number. Acting in the first week is significantly cheaper than acting in the last week, and far cheaper than not acting at all.

What NCAT can and cannot do to you

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal operates under the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (New South Wales). It can make money orders, work orders, possession orders (in tenancy disputes), and a range of consumer remedies — and it can do so in your absence. NCAT mirrors the equivalent state bodies — VCAT in Victoria, QCAT in Queensland, ACAT in the Australian Capital Territory, NTCAT in the Northern Territory, and the Magistrates Court in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania for minor civil claims.

Common pitfalls in week one

Three errors keep costing respondents. Calling the applicant to “talk it out” — anything you say can be put in evidence, often stripped of context. Filing a one-line denial — “I dispute the claim” is not a Response that helps an NCAT member; it locks in the hearing and tells the member you have no defence ready. Not turning up — NCAT’s respondent page says that if you do nothing and do not attend the hearing, NCAT will probably hear the application in your absence and enforceable orders may be made against you.

What a proper Response does

NCAT’s respondent page for the Consumer and Commercial Division describes no response form, but a written response should still admit, deny, or “not know” each allegation, note any counterclaim or set-off, and indicate your evidence. A well-drafted Response narrows the dispute to the genuinely contested issues, signals professionalism to the member, and can prompt a settlement before hearing because the applicant sees the case is no longer one-sided.

What Claim Done delivers

For a flat fee, Claim Done drafts four separate A4 PDFs for your NCAT response from your answers: a response summary, a defence position statement, a chronology and an evidence list. You attach your own evidence and provide the documents to NCAT and the applicant yourself, as your notice of listing directs. Claim Done does not lodge, file or serve anything for you. About 15 minutes in the wizard, no solicitor appointment.

What happens after

NCAT usually lists the matter for a directions hearing or conciliation conference. If the matter does proceed to hearing, you will need a hearing bundle of your evidence. Claim Done’s Hearing Bundle, a flat-fee service, drafts the chronology, statement of issues, evidence index, position statement and draft orders that go with it.