Affidavits and statutory declarations in New South Wales
New South Wales has the most prescriptive rules of any Australian jurisdiction, and the clearest permanent regime for witnessing by audio-visual link. Both are worth understanding properly.
New South Wales rewards attention to detail. The form of an affidavit is prescribed, the rules of court set out what the jurat must contain, and the Supreme Court has published requirements about length and annexures that catch out practitioners as often as litigants in person.
It is also the jurisdiction with the most developed remote witnessing regime. Where the pandemic measures in several states lapsed, New South Wales made audio-visual witnessing permanent, and set out in statute what the witness must do and what they must endorse on the document. That endorsement is not optional and its absence is a defect.
This section covers the affidavit form and the jurat, the Supreme Court's practice requirements, the authorised witness classes - which differ between affidavits and statutory declarations - the position in NCAT and the Local and District Courts, and how the remote witnessing provisions work in practice.
The law where your document is made
Which law your document is made under decides its form, who may witness it, and whether it can be witnessed by video link.
Need a document witnessed?
An Australian legal practitioner, on a video call, in about ten minutes. Evenings and weekends included.