What the rules ask
Under the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021, anyone thinking of starting a case has to make a real effort to settle it first. Unless an exemption applies, each person must:
- take part in dispute resolution, such as family dispute resolution counselling, negotiation, mediation, conciliation or arbitration
- if that does not settle things, write to the other party saying what they claim and how it might be settled
- meet the duty of disclosure as far as they practically can.
The court calls this taking “genuine steps”, and it says the procedures apply to anyone considering starting a case, anyone who would be named as a respondent, and their lawyers. The aim is to see whether the dispute, or parts of it, can be settled by agreement, which should reduce costs and, ideally, avoid an application to the court at all.
The five steps, in order
The court’s brochure sets the procedure out step by step.
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Step one
Invite the other side to dispute resolution
The person considering an application gives the other prospective parties a copy of the brochure and the pre-action procedures from Schedule 1 of the rules, and invites them to take part in dispute resolution. The brochure points to Family Relationships Online to find a service.
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Step two
Agree on a service, and take part
Each person agrees on an appropriate dispute resolution service and makes a genuine effort to resolve the dispute through it. If they reach agreement, it can be formalised as a financial agreement, made with the help of a lawyer, or through an application to the court for consent orders.
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Step three
Send a notice of intention
If no service is available, someone refuses or fails to take part, or no agreement is reached, the person considering an application writes to the other side. This “notice of intention” must set out the issues in dispute, the orders that would be sought, a genuine offer to resolve the issues, and a time to reply that is at least 14 days after the date of the letter. The brochure should be attached.
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Step four
Reply to the notice
Whoever receives a notice must reply in writing within the nominated time, saying whether the offer is accepted. If it is not, the reply sets out the issues in dispute, the orders they would seek, a genuine counter-offer, and a time to reply that is at least 14 days after the date of their letter. If there is no response at all, the initiating party’s obligation to follow the procedures ends.
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Step five
Other action
Where reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute by correspondence fail, other appropriate action can be taken, including filing an application in the court.
The duty of disclosure
Each party must give the other, promptly and in full, every piece of information that bears on the issues in dispute, holding nothing back. That duty applies before a case starts as well as after. The court warns that failing to disclose can have serious consequences, including punishment for contempt of court.
Since 10 June 2025 the duty sits in the Family Law Act 1975 itself rather than in the court’s rules. The Attorney-General’s Department says the nature of the duty is the same, and that it is ongoing.
For a property settlement case, the documents the court would consider appropriate to exchange include, as a selection from its longer list:
- the party’s tax returns and Notices of Assessment for the last three years
- records of any superannuation interest that matters to the case, including a completed Superannuation Information Form
- if the party has an ABN, the last four business activity statements lodged
- financial statements for any company, trust or partnership the party has an interest in
- for each piece of property the party has an interest in, an appraisal of what it would sell for, unless both sides agree on its value.
Documents received this way may be used only to resolve or decide the dispute they were disclosed for. The court’s financial or property page has the full list, including what applies in a spousal maintenance case.
The exemptions
The court lists six situations in which the compulsory pre-action procedures for financial cases do not apply, under rule 4.01(2):
- family violence, or a risk of it, is alleged in the case
- the matter is urgent
- making the applicant comply would be unfair to them (the court’s words are “unduly prejudiced”)
- an earlier application in the same cause of action was made in the 12 months immediately before this case starts
- the proceeding is a child support application or appeal
- the proceeding involves the court’s jurisdiction in bankruptcy.
The court’s brochure lists four of these; the court’s financial or property page and rule 4.01(2) list all six.
An exemption is not something to assume quietly. The brochure says the exemption relied on must be shown in the Genuine Steps Certificate filed with the application or response, and explained in the supporting affidavit. If family violence is part of the picture, family violence and safety at court covers the help available.
If someone does not comply
The court says it expects a sensible and responsible approach, and that when a case starts it will consider whether the procedures were followed. If a party’s failure to comply is unreasonable, the court can make that party pay some or all of the other side’s costs. Separately, it can weigh whether the procedures were followed when it decides how the case moves forward. It may also make sure the party who complied is in no worse a position than if the other had complied.
Examples the court gives of non-compliance include not sending a written notice of a proposed application, not providing enough information or documents, and not replying appropriately within the nominated time. If an application is filed without a Genuine Steps Certificate, or before the procedures have been complied with and no exemption applies, the court may stay it until they are. The court reviews the certificate and assesses compliance at the first court date.
When the steps are done
If agreement still is not reached, a property case is started by paying the fee and filing an Initiating Application (Family Law), a Financial Statement and a Genuine Steps Certificate. An affidavit is added when interlocutory (interim) orders are sought; otherwise a Financial Questionnaire is filed. The court’s practice direction lists further documents, including an Undertaking as to Disclosure and a copy of any current family violence order affecting the party. Current fees are in property settlement basics.
Parenting disputes have a separate pre-action procedure with its own brochure; this guide does not cover it.
The brochure itself says people should get legal advice before deciding what to do, from a legal aid office, a community legal centre or a private law firm. See legal aid and free help in Queensland.