Serving Documents Overseas

Introduction

This guide sets out information about serving Federal Court documents overseas. Service of documents overseas is covered in Division 10.4 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth). Other Divisions of the Rules may also apply as set out below:

• For serving documents overseas through diplomatic channel or by transmission to a foreign government in accordance with a convention, Division 10.5 of the Rules applies.
• For serving documents overseas under the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, Division 10.6 of the Rules applies.

You should read these Divisions carefully before starting the process of serving documents overseas. You should also read the Court’s Overseas Service and Evidence Practice Note (GPN-OSE).

Serving documents overseas under Divisions 10.5 or 10.6 of the Rules is a lengthy process. Under these Divisions, the process of serving documents overseas will usually take two to three months and can take up to six months.

Leave required to serve documents overseas

Before taking steps to serve documents overseas, you will need to check if leave is required from the Court under Division 10.4. If you require leave, a formal application must be made to a Judge. Ordinarily, the application should be made to the Judge docketed to your matter. Registrars do not have the power to grant leave for overseas service.

There are certain kinds of proceedings in which an originating application can be served outside Australia without leave. These are identified in r 10.42. For originating applications that are not identified in r 10.42, you must obtain leave under r 10.43. If you want to serve a document overseas that are not originating applications, r 10.44 also requires that you obtain leave.

Making a service request under Division 10.5 or 10.6

Before starting the process of serving documents overseas, you should think carefully about which method of service you want to use. You will need to consider whether a convention, such as the Hague Convention, applies. You will also need to consider relevant laws of the country in which the service will occur. The Court cannot give you advice on the suitability of methods.

Depending on the circumstances, you may decide to use Division 10.5 or Division 10.6 for serving documents overseas. As there are many countries that are parties to the Hague Convention, it is common to use Division 10.6 for serving documents overseas.

The table below identifies the Federal Court forms that must be used for serving documents overseas under Divisions 10.5 and 10.6. The table also provides external links to additional information for each method of service.

To start a request under Division 10.5 or 10.6, you must submit draft versions of the required forms by email to FCA.DPR@fedcourt.gov.au. Your request will then be allocated to a Registrar to consider. Registrars are the designated “forwarding authority” for service of documents under Division 10.6. Registrars also handle requests for service under Division 10.5.

All forms should be emailed to the Court as draft versions and should not be lodged for filing. Once the forms have been approved by a Registrar, sealed and signed copies of the forms will be provided to you by the Court.

Completion of overseas service forms

Before the Registrar approves your overseas service forms, the Registrar will carefully consider whether the forms have been completed correctly. The Court will contact you if amendments are required. To ensure the smooth and efficient service of documents overseas, you may be asked to make amendments to the forms that the Court would not ordinarily require for other forms.

There are some common issues that arise with overseas service forms submitted to the Court. To address these issues, please ensure you do the following:

• Insert Australia’s international dial prefix before any Australian phone number in the form;
• Include the country in any address, including any address for service, contained in the form;
• For any list of documents to be served overseas, include a filing date, where applicable;
• Include the address for service for each party, if known, where the particulars of parties are required in the form; and
• Ensure that details of relevant legal aid bodies do not include courts or law firms, and when listing the contact details for a relevant legal aid body, include the phone number, email address and/or website address.

The Court will notify you by email when your forms have been approved by the Registrar. You will then be invited to submit three hard copies to the Court of the documents to be served.

Translations

If necessary, you will need to arrange for translations of documents to be served overseas.

If you want to serve documents overseas under Division 10.5, the rules requires translations of the documents, if necessary, into the foreign country’s official language. If your service of documents is on a foreign state, you should also check the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 (Cth) and the Attorney-General’s Department’s Information paper: Operation of Foreign States Immunities Act.

If you want to serve documents overseas under Division 10.6, the rules provide that if a Central Authority requires the documents be written in, or translated into, the official language of the country to which the request is addressed, then you must have translations made. For information about each Central Authority’s translation requirements, you should check the HCCH’s webpage and navigate to “Translation requirements” for the relevant country.

To save time and expense, the Court recommends that you do not arrange for translations to be made of documents until after the Registrar has approved the forms.

Undertaking and Costs

For overseas service under Division 10.5 and Division 10.6, the rules require that you provide a written undertaking to the Court for payment of, and liability for, costs incurred in serving the documents overseas. The relevant rules are r 10.51(e) and 10.64(3).

Please be aware that the written undertaking under r 10.51(e) is contained within Form 23, whereas the written undertaking required by r 10.64(3) must be submitted as a separate document.

For service requests made pursuant to the Hague Convention under Division 10.6, some Central Authorities will not process an overseas service request until a fee has been paid. These upfront fees are usually modest. If an upfront fee is required, the Court will contact you regarding arrangements for the fee to be paid.

More information about costs for the service of documents under the Hague Convention can be found under the heading ‘Costs relating to the execution of the request for service (Art 12)’ in the ‘Practical Information’ table for each country’s Central Authority on the HCCH’s webpage.

Queries

For procedural questions about serving Federal Court documents overseas, you can email FCA.DPR@fedcourt.gov.au. Please note that the Court cannot provide any legal advice.

At 28 July 2026