An affidavit is a formal written statement, which sets out facts known to you. You must sign it under oath or affirmation, which is you saying that the information is true.
Links to an affidavit template and the cover sheet you need to complete for the exhibit (attachment to the affidavit) are outlined below in 'Preparing an affidavit'.
Affidavits are often required to support an application made to the Supreme Court and can serve to either:
- collect a handful of exhibits together for ease of handling and reference, or
- set out a person's own account of events in numbered paragraphs.
The information provided here is focused on the second type of affidavit.
The legal requirements that need to be followed when preparing an affidavit for use in the Supreme Court of Victoria are set out in order 43, chapter 1 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015. Further legal requirements are found within the Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 and related regulations.
The contents of an affidavit must be true according to personal, direct and factual knowledge. As affidavits are a form of evidence, there are criminal consequences for making false statements.
When writing your affidavit, you should:
- set it out under a number of headings to make the completed document easy to follow
- make sure that each paragraph sets out a specific fact relating to the issue concerned, and that each paragraph follows on logically from the previous one
- keep it as brief as possible, but don't leave out anything which may be important to the particular issues that need to be considered in the case
- write in the first person, using 'I' (or 'we' where appropriate).
Please note: As of 1 October 2021, changes have been made to the process of filing an affidavit in the Common Law Division and Commercial Court. Read the relevant Notice to the Profession for details.
The Court has developed an example affidavit to assist you to understand the new requirements together with an affidavit template.
Exhibits to an affidavit are supporting documents or other form of physical evidence, which help the reader understand the claims being made. Examples of exhibits might include bank statements, letters, video or reports. Exhibits are kept with the affidavit while the matter remains in the Court.
Any affidavit that is filed with the Court must:
(a) include a maximum of one exhibit. If more than one document is referred to in the affidavit, the documents must be combined into a single ‘bundle exhibit’, ordered in the sequence they are referred to in the affidavit;
(b) be in a single fully text-searchable PDF format file, including any bundle exhibit;
(c) have legible page numbers at the bottom right hand corner of each page that correspond with the digital display page numbers of the PDF that commence from the first page of the affidavit to the last page of the bundle exhibit; and
(d) bookmark each referenced document in the exhibit with its short-form name (for example, ‘Contract dated 6 April 2020’).
Where any document referred to in an affidavit is claimed to be confidential, the affidavit may include an additional ‘confidential bundle exhibit’.
The exhibit must also have a cover sheet known as a Certificate Identifying Exhibit ' Form 43A, which includes the name of the exhibit.
Generally, the Supreme Court Registry will not allow you to file the original exhibited document with your affidavit (there are some exceptions). Instead, you should file a copy document. However, you will also need to keep the original with you in case the decision-maker asks to see it during any court hearings.
Affidavits for use in a Victorian court must be sworn or affirmed orally in the presence of an authorised affidavit taker. This person may be a solicitor a Justice of the Peace, or someone in one of the occupations listed in section 19 of the Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018.
At the end of the affidavit there must be a short statement (called a 'jurat') that states when and where the affidavit was sworn or affirmed, and by whom. You, as the person making the affidavit as well as the authorised person witnessing your affidavit must sign the bottom of each page and each cover page (the 'Certificate Identifying Exhibit - Form 43A'). Any minor alterations that have been made to the affidavit, such as correcting a typing error, must also be initialled by both you and the witness.
An affidavit to be filed with the Supreme Court will need to be submitted for filing electronically in RedCrest or with the relevant registry as appropriate. Once accepted for filing , the affidavit can be served on the other parties in the proceeding. If it is necessary to correct an affidavit in any way, for example by adding additional factual material, you will need prepare, file and serve a new affidavit. The new affidavit should clearly state whether it is to be read in addition to, or instead of, the previous affidavit.