Dictionary
Schedule 1 Dictionary
(rule 1.51)
Act means the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976.
address for service, for a person in a proceeding—see rule 11.01.
AD(JR) Act means the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977.
ADR process means an alternative dispute resolution process conducted by a suitable person.
AFCA has the meaning given by section 761A of the Corporations Act 2001.
appeal means an appeal brought in the appellate jurisdiction of the Court under Division 2 of Part III of the Act, but does not include an appeal under Part 33 of these Rules.
appellant means a person who has filed a notice of appeal, under Chapter 4 of these Rules.
applicant means:
a party, other than a cross‑claimant, claiming relief; or
for Division 34.7—a person who is an applicant for section 61(2) of the Native Title Act 1993.
approved form means a form approved by the Chief Justice.
arbitration means arbitration conducted under an arbitration order.
arbitration order means an order mentioned in rule 28.02, referring a matter to an arbitrator.
arbitrator means an arbitrator to whom a matter is referred under an arbitration order.
ART Act means the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024.
Attorney‑General means the Commonwealth Attorney‑General.
Attorney‑General’s Department means the Commonwealth Attorney‑General’s Department.
Australia includes the external Territories.
Australian Consumer Law has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Consumer and Competition Act 2010.
authenticity of a document means:
if the document is an original—it was created, printed, written, signed and executed as it purports to have been; or
if the document is a copy—it is a true copy.
award includes a final award and an interim award.
bank means:
an authorised deposit‑taking institution within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959; or
the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Bankruptcy Rules means the Federal Court (Bankruptcy) Rules 2016.
barrister means a person who is entitled to practise as a barrister in a federal court.
bill means a bill of costs.
business day, in a place, means any day other than:
a Saturday or Sunday; or
a day that is a public holiday in the place; or
any other day on which the Registry in the place is closed.
business name means a name, style, title or designation under which a person carries on a business, other than a name consisting only of the name of that person and the name of any other person in association with whom the person carries on business.
certificate of taxation means a certificate issued by a taxing officer in accordance with rule 40.32.
Chief Executive Officer—see section 4 of the Act.
Civil Dispute Resolution Act means the Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011.
claim includes a cross‑claim unless a contrary intention appears.
conduct money means a sum of money or its equivalent, sufficient to meet the reasonable expenses of a person attending Court for the purposes of complying with a subpoena or order.
constitutional writ means a writ of mandamus or a writ of prohibition.
control, if referring to a document, means possession, custody or power.
convention means a convention (other than the Hague Convention), agreement, arrangement or treaty about service abroad of judicial documents to which the Crown in right of the Commonwealth or, if applicable, in right of a State, and a foreign country are parties.
corporation means any artificial person other than an organisation.
Corporations Rules means the Federal Court (Corporations) Rules 2000.
costs, unless the context otherwise provides, means costs as between party and party.
costs as between party and party means only the costs that have been fairly and reasonably incurred by the party in the conduct of the litigation.
costs on an indemnity basis means costs as a complete indemnity against the costs incurred by the party in the proceeding, provided that they do not include any amount shown by the party liable to pay them to have been incurred unreasonably in the interests of the party incurring them.
Court file: a document is part of the Court file of a particular proceeding if:
the document:
has been accepted for filing in respect of the proceeding, in accordance with rule 2.25; or
is a redacted copy replaced on the Court file in accordance with rule 2.29; and
the document has not been the subject of an order, under rule 2.28 or 2.29, that the document be removed from the Court file.
cross–claim includes a counter‑claim, cross‑action, set‑off and third party claim.
cross–claimant means a party claiming relief in a cross‑claim.
cross‑respondent means a party against whom relief is claimed in a cross‑claim.
description means:
for a person who is an individual—the person’s name, residential or business address and occupation;
for a person that is not an individual:
the person’s name; and
the address of one of the following:
the person’s registered office;
the person’s principal office;
the person’s principal place of business.
direction means an order of the Court.
directions hearing means the first date, and any other date appointed by the Court for the management and conduct of a proceeding.
document includes:
any record of information mentioned in the definition of document in Part 1 of the Dictionary to the Evidence Act 1995; and
any other material, data or information stored or recorded by mechanical or electronic means.
electronic communication means a communication of information in the form of data, text or images by means of guided or unguided electromagnetic energy, including an email or an attachment to an email.
email address means an address to or from which an electronic communication may be sent, or at which an electronic communication may be received, using the internet, an intranet or other similar electronic network.
examination includes:
an examination held under an order made under Division 29.2; and
in proceedings under Division 1 of Part 2 of the Foreign Evidence Act 1994—any proceeding for the taking of evidence of a person conducted by the judicial authorities of a foreign country in relation to a letter of request issued as a result of an order made by the Court under that Part.
examiner includes a Registrar of the Court, or any other person, appointed for the purpose of an examination of a person under:
these Rules; or
section 7(1)(a) or (b) of the Foreign Evidence Act 1994.
expert means a person who has specialised knowledge based on the person’s training, study or experience.
expert evidence means the evidence of an expert that is based wholly or substantially on the expert’s specialised knowledge.
For the admissibility of the evidence of the opinion of an expert, see section 79 of the Evidence Act.
expert report means a written report that contains the opinion of any expert on any question in issue in the proceeding based wholly or substantially on that expert’s specialised knowledge, including any report in which an expert comments on the report of any other expert.
file means file and serve.
genuine steps statement—see section 5 of the Civil Dispute Resolution Act.
guardian, of a mentally disabled person or the estate of a mentally disabled person, includes a person entrusted under a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory, with the care or management of the person or the estate.
Hague Convention means the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, done at The Hague on 15 November 1965.
The Convention is in Australian Treaty Series 2010 No. 23 ([2010] ATS 23) and could in 2022 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).
hearing means any hearing before the Court, whether final or interlocutory.
hearing date, for an application or a proceeding, means the date fixed by a Registrar for a hearing for the application or proceeding.
High Court means the High Court of Australia.
image means a picture that has been created, copied, stored or sent in electronic form.
interested person means:
for a minor under a legal incapacity—the person’s parent or guardian; or
for a mentally disabled person under a legal incapacity—the person’s guardian; or
in any other case—a person affected:
by an order of the Court; or
by any act or thing done by another person.
interlocutory application means an application, other than a cross‑claim, in a proceeding already started.
issuing officer, for a subpoena to give evidence or produce documents—see subrule 24.11(1).
issuing party:
for a subpoena to give evidence, or produce documents, mentioned in Division 24.2—see subrule 24.11(1); and
for a subpoena to attend for examination or produce documents in arbitral proceedings under subsection 23(3) of the International Arbitration Act—see subrule 28.46(1).
Judge—see section 4 of the Act.
judgment—see section 4 of the Act.
lawyer has the meaning given by section 4 of the Act.
Litigants Fund means the Federal Court of Australia Litigants’ Fund established under Division 2.5 of these Rules.
litigation representative means a person who has been appointed for a proceeding, as a litigation representative for a person under a legal incapacity.
mediation means mediation conducted under a mediation order.
mediation order means an order referring a matter to a mediator as mentioned in rule 28.01.
mediator means a person to whom a matter is referred under a mediation order.
mentally disabled person means a person who, because of a mental disability or illness, is not capable of managing the person’s own affairs in a proceeding.
migration litigation has the meaning given by section 486K of the Migration Act 1958.
minor means a person under the age of 18 years.
Native Title Registrar means the Native Title Registrar appointed under Part 5 of the Native Title Act 1993.
oath includes an affirmation.
order includes a final order, an interlocutory order, a direction and a sentence of the Court.
organisation has the meaning given by section 6 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009.
originating application means an application starting a proceeding, including a cross‑claim in the proceeding against a person who was not previously a party to the proceeding, but not a notice of appeal.
partnership name means a name under which 2 or more persons carry on business in partnership in Australia.
party means a party to a proceeding.
party interested in the bill means a party or a person in whose favour or against whom an order for costs has been made.
person under a legal incapacity means:
a minor; or
a mentally disabled person.
pleading means:
a statement of claim; or
an alternative accompanying document referred to in rule 8.05; or
a statement of cross claim; or
a defence; or
a concise statement in response; or
a reply; or
a concise statement in reply; or
any pleading after a reply;
but does not include:
an originating application; or
an interlocutory application
a notice of any kind; or
an affidavit.
principal proceeding means a proceeding in which:
a respondent wants to make a cross‑claim; or
a cross‑claim has been made under Part 15.
proceeding—see section 4 of the Act.
proper address, for a person to be served, means:
the person’s address for service; or
if the person has no address for service—the person’s usual or last‑known business or residential address.
proper place, for a proceeding, means:
the place where the proceeding is started; or
if the proceeding is transferred to another place—the other place, from the date of transfer.
proper Registry, for a proceeding, means the Registry at the proper place for the proceeding.
Register of Native Title Claims means the Register established and maintained in accordance with Part 7 of the Native Title Act 1993.
See section 253 and Part 7 of the Native Title Act 1993.
Registrar means:
the Chief Executive Officer, or a Registrar, District Registrar or Deputy District Registrar of the Court; and
any officer from time to time authorised to perform the duties of the Chief Executive Officer, or a Registrar, District Registrar or Deputy District Registrar of the Court.
Registry means the Principal Registry or a District Registry of the Court.
respondent means:
a party, other than a cross‑respondent, against whom relief is claimed, and
a party to an appeal brought by an appellant.
return date means the date fixed by a Registrar for the hearing of an application and endorsed on any approved form.
Sheriff means:
the Sheriff of the Court appointed under section 18N of the Act; and
a Deputy Sheriff appointed under that section; and
any person from time to time authorised to perform the duties of the Sheriff or a Deputy Sheriff.
short form bill means a bill under Division 40.3 of these Rules or Part 13 of the Bankruptcy Rules.
stamp, for a document, means to affix the stamp of the Court or a particular Registry to the document under rule 2.01(2) or (3).
submitting notice means a notice filed in accordance with rule 12.01.
taxed costs means costs taxed in accordance with Division 40.2.
taxing officer means a Registrar.
Trans‑Tasman Proceedings Act means the Trans‑Tasman Proceedings Act 2010.
trial includes any hearing other than an interlocutory hearing.
vexatious proceeding: see section 37AM of the Act.
vexatious proceedings order: see section 37AM of the Act.
without notice means without serving or advising another party or other person of an application to be made to the Court.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory statement
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