How do I start a service matter?
Commencing a service matter is very simple and involves sending a single email. With the adoption of online processes by all Courts and Trubunals in Australia, we now only accept documents via email or download links (Google Drive, Microsoft Sharepoint, Dropbox, etc). You need to email your sealed documents to us, along with an instruction letter. Service documents are only accepted in PDF format, to ensure accuracy in what is being served.
Most Courts and Tribunals in Australia make sealed service documents available directly as PDF documents, with the official Court or Tribunal Seal (usually a red, black or purple stamp) layered onto the pre-file documents. The sealed service documents in PDF format from the Court, are ready to serve and should not be altered in any way before forwarding for service.
If you filed your documents in person at the Court and have received sealed hard copies only of the documents, you will need to scan the documents, to convert them to PDF documents. Each sealed document should be scanned into a separate PDF document, rather than scanning numberous sealed Court documents into a single PDF document. If you are unclear how to scan hard copy documents into PDF documents, or do not have scanning facilities, businesses such as Officeworks, can scan and email the hard copy documents for you.
Once you have the sealed service documents in PDF format on your device, draft your instruction letter using the tools on our Start Job page and email through the instructions and documents to info@oneserve.au.
When do I pay for the service?
For self represented clients, once we have received your instructions and documents, we will review the documents, as to whether they make up a typical service batch for the matter type. If there are any apparent omissions, we will email advising there appears to be an omission. Once we’ve received full instructions and your service documents, we will forward an invoice by return email. The invoice can be paid online, via credit card payment, or via a bank or internet transfer. Full details of the payment options are listed on the invoice.
For legal professionals, government departments, community legal services, commercial agents, field agents and mercantile agents, upon receipt of your instructions and documents, the matter will be added to active service immediately. Reporting will be provided upon completion of the matter, followed by forwarding of sworn affidavit and invoice. Payment terms are seven days after the end of the month, in which the invoice was generated.
How long does service take?
Standard service of a matter in a metro area typically takes on average around 7-14 days to complete service attempts. Standard service is the most cost effective option for service and will see attempts to serve occur, as the agent moves around their service area, making attendances on their various active matters.
Urgent service options are often also available, however more expensive than standard service. Urgent service typically take 1-3 days to complete service attempts. Urgent service availability usually needs to be confirmed with the attending agent, before we can assert an agent will be available to serve on an urgent basis.
Specific time/date service is a further available option, whereby the agent will attend at specified times or certain dates. Specific time service is the most costly service option, due to the special arrangements which must be made by the agent, diverting out of their usual service run process. Agent availability for specific time/date service usually needs to be confirmed with the attending agent, to ensure the agent will be available in the required time slots.
Destination service is a service option, whereby the address for attendance is well outside of an area, where the nearest agent is based. In this case the nearest agent needs to travel to the remote location, before service can be attempted. In some cases destination service may involve the agent travelling for several hours to get to the address, then several hours returning to their usual base of operation. There matters are quoted and charged as one off attendances, rather than the standard compliment of three attendances. Timing of these attendances are nearly always arranged on a case by case basis, due to effort to maximize successful service, with consideration to the travel time involved.
The above time frames for service are average times for service and should not be taken as guaranteed times to complete service attempts. This is due to the many circumstances which can develop when attending service addresses. Every effort is made to complete service as quickly as possible.
What if I have more then one address for service?
When instructing a service matter, sometimes the potential address for service is unclear. The person’s last known address may not have been confirmed as current in sometime and it is unclear if the person still resides at the address. Other times there may be more than one potential address, such as a home address and a work address. This creates indecision on where to instruct the service agent to attempt service.
In the situation where there is uncertainty about whether the service party still resides at the address, it is still best to instruct service at this address. The Court will always expect that effort has been made to personally serve the documents, at the last known address for the service party, before any further steps can be taken in the matter. If the attendance reveals there service party is no longer present at the address, an affidavit of attempted service will be produced detailing the circumstances of the attendance at the address. The affidavit of attempted service can faciliate numerous functions in seeking to progress your matter before the Court.
Am I allowed to serve the other person if an order under domestic violence is in place?
Where an order has been made under domestic violence legislation, this does not prevent instructing service in a legal matter. Provided the process server is not known to the respondent named in the domestic violence order, as a friend or associate, the service may be instructed legally and without concern of breaching the in place order. Sadly it is now a common occurrence, for a party or potential party to weaponize domestic violence legislation, seeking to defeat or impede a family law matter. This common abuse of the legislation is recognised by the Courts, hence formally filed matters before the Court are in no way impeded by this practise. Orders under domestic violence legislation do not prevent lawful service of filed Court matters, provided the service is not attempted by a person named in the order, or a friend or associate of a person named in the order.
What if I don’t know the address of the person to be served?
For matters of divorce of family law, successful service of the alternate party is often achieved through our agent calling the service party and making an arrangement to meet for service. The other party may not be willing to provide their current address address to the agent, but may be willing to meet the agent at a neutral location such as a police station, post office or McDonalds Restaurant. Where a service party refuses to make an arrangement to meet to accept service, a detailed affidavit can be provided for filing in the Court supporting your application for the various alternate processes available in the Court rules, where a service party will not cooperate with the Court process.