{"id":"C2011A00017","name":"Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011","slug":"civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"17 of 2011","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":8189,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2011A00017-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"Part 1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Preliminary","content":"## Part 1—Preliminary","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n This Act may be cited as the Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n```html\n

Commencement information

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Provision(s)

Commencement

Date/Details

1. Part 1 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table

The day this Act receives the Royal Assent.

12 April 2011

2. Parts 2 to 5

A single day to be fixed by Proclamation.

However, if any of the provision(s) do not commence within the period of 6 months beginning on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent, they commence on the day after the end of that period.

1 August 2011

(see F2011L01408)

\n```\n\n> Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Object of Act","content":"#### 3 Object of Act\n\n The object of this Act is to ensure that, as far as possible, people take genuine steps to resolve disputes before certain civil proceedings are instituted.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Genuine steps to resolve a dispute","content":"#### 4 Genuine steps to resolve a dispute\n\n (1A) For the purposes of this Act, a person takes genuine steps to resolve a dispute if the steps taken by the person in relation to the dispute constitute a sincere and genuine attempt to resolve the dispute, having regard to the person’s circumstances and the nature and circumstances of the dispute.\n (1) Examples of steps that could be taken by a person as part of taking genuine steps to resolve a dispute with another person, include the following:\n (a) notifying the other person of the issues that are, or may be, in dispute, and offering to discuss them, with a view to resolving the dispute;\n (b) responding appropriately to any such notification;\n (c) providing relevant information and documents to the other person to enable the other person to understand the issues involved and how the dispute might be resolved;\n (d) considering whether the dispute could be resolved by a process facilitated by another person, including an alternative dispute resolution process;\n (e) if such a process is agreed to:\n (i) agreeing on a particular person to facilitate the process; and\n (ii) attending the process;\n (f) if such a process is conducted but does not result in resolution of the dispute—considering a different process;\n (g) attempting to negotiate with the other person, with a view to resolving some or all the issues in dispute, or authorising a representative to do so.\n (2) Subsection (1) does not limit the steps that may constitute taking genuine steps to resolve a dispute.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions","content":"#### 5 Definitions\n\n In this Act:\n\n> applicant in proceedings means a person who institutes the proceedings.\n\n> application means an application (however described) by which civil proceedings are instituted.\n\n> civil penalty provision means a civil penalty provision however described.\n\n> Commonwealth authority means a body corporate established for a public purpose by or under a law of the Commonwealth.\n\n> eligible court means the following:\n\n (a) the Federal Court of Australia;\n (b) the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2).\n\n> excluded proceedings means proceedings that are excluded proceedings under Part 4.\n\n> genuine steps statement:\n\n (a) for an applicant—see section 6;\n (b) for a respondent—see section 7.\n\n> lawyer has the same meaning as in the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976.\n\n> respondent in proceedings means a person against whom the proceedings are instituted.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"Part 2","sectionType":"part","heading":"Obligation to take genuine steps to resolve disputes before proceedings are instituted","content":"## Part 2—Obligation to take genuine steps to resolve disputes before proceedings are instituted","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Genuine steps statement to be filed by applicant","content":"#### 6 Genuine steps statement to be filed by applicant\n\n (1) An applicant who institutes civil proceedings in an eligible court must file a genuine steps statement at the time of filing the application.\n (2) A genuine steps statement filed under subsection (1) must specify:\n (a) the steps that have been taken to try to resolve the issues in dispute between the applicant and the respondent in the proceedings; or\n (b) the reasons why no such steps were taken, which may relate to, but are not limited to the following:\n (i) the urgency of the proceedings;\n (ii) whether, and the extent to which, the safety or security of any person or property would have been compromised by taking such steps.\n (3) A genuine steps statement need not be filed under subsection (1) in relation to proceedings that are wholly excluded proceedings.\n (4) A genuine steps statement must be filed under subsection (1) in relation to proceedings that are in part excluded proceedings, but the statement need not relate to the parts of the proceedings that are excluded proceedings.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Genuine steps statement to be filed by respondent","content":"#### 7 Genuine steps statement to be filed by respondent\n\n (1) A respondent in proceedings who is given a copy of a genuine steps statement filed by an applicant in the proceedings must file a genuine steps statement before the hearing date specified in the application.\n (2) A genuine steps statement filed under subsection (1) must:\n (a) state that the respondent agrees with the genuine steps statement filed by the applicant; or\n (b) if the respondent disagrees in whole or part with the genuine steps statement filed by the applicant—specify the respect in which, and reasons why, the respondent disagrees.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"8","sectionType":"section","heading":"Genuine steps statements must comply with Rules of Court","content":"#### 8 Genuine steps statements must comply with Rules of Court\n\n A genuine steps statement must comply with any additional requirements specified in the Rules of Court of the eligible court (see section 18) in which the statement is filed.","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Duty of lawyers to advise people of the requirements of this Act","content":"#### 9 Duty of lawyers to advise people of the requirements of this Act\n\n A lawyer acting for a person who is required to file a genuine steps statement must:\n (a) advise the person of the requirement; and\n (b) assist the person to comply with the requirement.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"10","sectionType":"section","heading":"Effect of requirements of this Part","content":"#### 10 Effect of requirements of this Part\n\n (1) The requirements of this Part are in addition to, and not instead of, requirements imposed by any other Act.\n (2) A failure to file a genuine steps statement in proceedings does not invalidate the application instituting the proceedings, a response to such an application or the proceedings.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"Part 3","sectionType":"part","heading":"Powers of court","content":"## Part 3—Powers of court","sortOrder":12},{"sectionNumber":"11","sectionType":"section","heading":"Court may have regard to genuine steps requirements in exercising powers and performing functions","content":"#### 11 Court may have regard to genuine steps requirements in exercising powers and performing functions\n\n An eligible court may, in performing functions or exercising powers in relation to civil proceedings before it, take account of the following:\n (a) whether a person who was required to file a genuine steps statement under Part 2 in the proceedings filed such a statement;\n (b) whether such a person took genuine steps to resolve the dispute.","sortOrder":13},{"sectionNumber":"12","sectionType":"section","heading":"Exercising discretion to award costs","content":"#### 12 Exercising discretion to award costs\n\n (1) In exercising a discretion to award costs in a civil proceeding in an eligible court, the court, Judge or other person exercising the discretion may take account of:\n (a) whether a person who was required to file a genuine steps statement under Part 2 in the proceedings filed such a statement; and\n (b) whether such a person took genuine steps to resolve the dispute.\n (2) In exercising a discretion to award costs in a civil proceeding in an eligible court, the court, Judge or other person exercising the discretion may take account of any failure by a lawyer to comply with the duty imposed by section 9.\n (3) If a lawyer is ordered to bear costs personally because of a failure to comply with section 9, the lawyer must not recover the costs from the lawyer’s client.","sortOrder":14},{"sectionNumber":"13","sectionType":"section","heading":"Powers are in addition to powers under other Acts","content":"#### 13 Powers are in addition to powers under other Acts\n\n The powers conferred on an eligible court under this Part are in addition to any other powers of the court, whether conferred by this Act or otherwise.","sortOrder":15},{"sectionNumber":"Part 4","sectionType":"part","heading":"Exclusions","content":"## Part 4—Exclusions","sortOrder":16},{"sectionNumber":"15","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proceedings of certain kinds are excluded proceedings","content":"#### 15 Proceedings of certain kinds are excluded proceedings\n\n Proceedings are excluded proceedings to the extent that they are any of the following:\n (a) proceedings for an order imposing a pecuniary penalty for a contravention of a civil penalty provision;\n (b) proceedings brought by or on behalf of the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority for an order connected with:\n (i) a criminal offence or the possible commission of a criminal offence; or\n (ii) a contravention or possible contravention of a civil penalty provision;\n (c) proceedings that relate to a decision of, or a decision that has been subject to review by:\n (i) the Administrative Review Tribunal;\n (ii) the Australian Competition Tribunal;\n (iii) the Copyright Tribunal of Australia;\n (vii) the Veterans’ Review Board;\n (viii) a body prescribed by the regulations;\n (d) proceedings in the appellate jurisdiction of an eligible court;\n (e) proceedings arising from the exercise of a power to compel a person to answer questions, produce documents or appear before a person or body under a law of the Commonwealth;\n (f) proceedings in relation to the exercise of a power to issue a warrant, or the exercise of a power under a warrant;\n (g) proceedings that are, or relate to, proceedings in which the applicant or the respondent has been declared a vexatious litigant under a law relating to vexatious litigants (however described);\n (h) ex parte proceedings;\n (i) proceedings to enforce an enforceable undertaking.","sortOrder":17},{"sectionNumber":"16","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proceedings under certain Acts are excluded proceedings","content":"#### 16 Proceedings under certain Acts are excluded proceedings\n\n (1) Proceedings are also excluded proceedings to the extent that they are proceedings under, or under regulations made under, any of the following Acts:\n (a) the Australian Citizenship Act 2007;\n (b) the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988;\n (c) the Fair Work Act 2009;\n (d) the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009;\n (e) the Family Law Act 1975;\n (f) the Migration Act 1958;\n (g) the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004;\n (h) the Native Title Act 1993;\n (i) the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987;\n (j) the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.\n (2) Proceedings are also excluded proceedings to the extent that they are:\n (a) proceedings falling within the original or appellate jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1) (see Part 2 of Chapter 3 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021); or\n (b) proceedings falling within the original jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) under section 132 of that Act.","sortOrder":18},{"sectionNumber":"17","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proceedings prescribed by the regulations are excluded proceedings","content":"#### 17 Proceedings prescribed by the regulations are excluded proceedings\n\n (1) Proceedings are excluded proceedings to the extent that they are proceedings prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection.\n (2) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1) may specify proceedings in any way including, but not limited to, by reference to the following:\n (a) the nature of the proceedings;\n (b) the subject matter of the proceedings;\n (c) the Act or regulations, or provision of an Act or regulations, under which the proceedings arise.","sortOrder":19},{"sectionNumber":"Part 5","sectionType":"part","heading":"Other matters","content":"## Part 5—Other matters","sortOrder":20},{"sectionNumber":"17A","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act does not exclude or limit law relating to disclosure of information, etc.","content":"#### 17A Act does not exclude or limit law relating to disclosure of information, etc.\n\n To avoid doubt, this Act does not exclude or limit the operation of a law of the Commonwealth, a law of a State or Territory, or the common law (including the rules of equity), relating to the use or disclosure of information, the production of documents or the admissibility of evidence.","sortOrder":21},{"sectionNumber":"18","sectionType":"section","heading":"Rules of Court","content":"#### 18 Rules of Court\n\n Rules of Court made under the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 or Chapter 4 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 may make provision for or in relation to the following:\n (a) the form of genuine steps statements;\n (b) the matters that are to be specified in genuine steps statements;\n (c) time limits relating to the provision of copies of genuine steps statements.","sortOrder":22},{"sectionNumber":"19","sectionType":"section","heading":"Regulations","content":"#### 19 Regulations\n\n The Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters:\n (a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or\n (b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.","sortOrder":23}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"4(1A) and 4(1)","severity":"low","reasoning":"Subsection (1A) provides the primary definition of 'genuine steps' but is numbered as if it were inserted after subsection (1), which contains the examples. Definitionally, (1A) should precede (1) as the examples in (1) depend on the definition in (1A). While this is a drafting convention issue rather than a logical impossibility, it creates structural confusion and suggests a retroactive insertion.","confidence":0.85,"description":"Subsection (1A) appears before subsection (1), which is an unusual and potentially confusing legislative drafting anomaly suggesting (1A) was inserted after the fact without renumbering, creating a logical ordering problem where the definitional provision follows its exemplifying provision numerically."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"10(2)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 6(1) uses 'must file', imposing a mandatory obligation. Section 10(2) then provides that failure to comply does not invalidate the application or proceedings. The only consequence available is the discretionary costs consideration in section 12. This creates a legal absurdity where a statutory obligation exists without any substantive enforcement mechanism — the obligation is mandatory in form but optional in practical effect.","confidence":0.82,"description":"Section 10(2) provides that failure to file a genuine steps statement does not invalidate proceedings, which effectively renders the obligation in Part 2 largely toothless as a mandatory requirement. The Act creates a 'must' obligation (sections 6, 7) but then expressly provides that non-compliance has no invalidating effect, creating a hollow mandatory obligation."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"6(4)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"In proceedings that are only partly excluded, disputes and their resolution steps are often factually and legally intertwined. Requiring a genuine steps statement that excludes reference to certain aspects of the same dispute may be practically impossible where the excluded and non-excluded parts share common facts, parties, or legal issues. There is no guidance on how to achieve this separation.","confidence":0.65,"description":"Section 6(4) requires a genuine steps statement to be filed for partially excluded proceedings but says the statement 'need not relate to the parts of the proceedings that are excluded proceedings'. This creates a practical impossibility: the applicant must file a statement about unresolved genuine steps for only part of proceedings that are inherently intertwined, requiring artificial surgical separation of issues that may be legally indivisible."},{"type":"other","section":"15(c)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The paragraph numbering within section 15(c) skips from (iii) to (vii), omitting (iv), (v), and (vi). While this may reflect amendments removing previously listed tribunals, the failure to renumber creates apparent gaps and raises questions about whether the omissions are intentional or drafting errors. This undermines certainty as to which bodies are covered.","confidence":0.9,"description":"Section 15(c) lists excluded tribunal bodies with non-sequential numbering: items (i), (ii), (iii) jump directly to (vii) and (viii), with items (iv), (v), and (vi) missing entirely. This suggests provisions were repealed or omitted but the numbering was not corrected, leaving a facially incomplete list."},{"type":"other","section":"9","severity":"low","reasoning":"The word 'must' in section 9 imposes a mandatory duty, but no penalty provision exists for breach. Section 12(2) only allows a costs discretion — it does not mandate any consequence. The prohibition in section 12(3) on recovering costs from the client is the strongest consequence, but this only applies if a costs order is actually made, which remains discretionary. The 'duty' therefore lacks teeth proportionate to its mandatory framing.","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 9 imposes a duty on lawyers to advise clients of genuine steps requirements and assist compliance, but the only consequence for breach is a discretionary costs order under section 12(2). A lawyer who deliberately fails to advise a client faces no direct penalty, disciplinary sanction, or invalidation consequence under this Act, making the 'duty' aspirational rather than enforceable in any meaningful statutory sense."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"6(1) and 7(1)","section_b":"10(2)","confidence":0.88,"description":"Sections 6(1) and 7(1) impose mandatory obligations ('must file') on applicants and respondents respectively to file genuine steps statements. Section 10(2) expressly provides that failure to comply with these mandatory obligations does not invalidate any application, response, or proceedings. The mandatory language is directly contradicted by the absence of any invalidating consequence."},{"severity":"high","section_a":"3","section_b":"10(2)","confidence":0.8,"description":"The object of the Act (section 3) is to ensure people 'take genuine steps to resolve disputes before certain civil proceedings are instituted'. Section 10(2) ensures that failure to do so has no invalidating effect on those proceedings, directly undermining the stated object by permitting proceedings to continue unimpeded even where the core obligation has been entirely ignored."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"6(3)","section_b":"6(4)","confidence":0.7,"description":"Section 6(3) provides that a genuine steps statement 'need not be filed' for wholly excluded proceedings. Section 6(4) requires a statement 'must be filed' for partly excluded proceedings. The transition between these two provisions creates a potential anomaly: as proceedings approach being 'wholly' excluded (e.g., 95% excluded), the obligation flips from mandatory filing to no filing required, with no guidance on how to determine the threshold between 'wholly' and 'in part' excluded."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"15(h) (ex parte proceedings)","section_b":"7(1)","confidence":0.55,"description":"Section 15(h) excludes ex parte proceedings from the genuine steps requirements. Section 7(1) requires a respondent to file a genuine steps statement. In ex parte proceedings there is by definition no respondent present, yet the exclusion of ex parte proceedings is directed at Part 4 generally without explicit clarification that section 7 is inapplicable to such proceedings. While the exclusion resolves this in practice, the Act does not explicitly address how the respondent obligation in section 7 interacts with ex parte exclusions where a respondent later appears."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"17A","section_b":"4(1)(c)","confidence":0.72,"description":"Section 17A preserves all laws relating to 'use or disclosure of information' and 'production of documents'. Section 4(1)(c) lists as a genuine step 'providing relevant information and documents to the other person'. These provisions are in potential tension: a party may be legally required to take the genuine step of providing documents under section 4(1)(c) while simultaneously being prohibited from disclosing those documents under confidentiality, legal professional privilege, or other laws preserved by section 17A, with no mechanism in the Act to resolve this conflict."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original object of the Act (encouraging pre-litigation dispute resolution broadly) has been significantly narrowed in practice by the extensive list of excluded proceedings in Part 4. Major areas of federal litigation — family law, migration, employment/Fair Work, native title, and all appellate proceedings — are carved out, meaning the Act's reach is considerably more limited than its stated object suggests. The addition of section 16(2) excluding Federal Circuit and Family Court Division 1 proceedings further reduced the practical scope after the court's restructuring in 2021."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple layers of exemptions across three separate sections (Parts 4), requiring careful assessment of whether any particular proceeding is excluded","The 'genuine steps' standard is deliberately flexible and context-dependent, meaning what counts as 'genuine' is not a bright-line rule","Interaction with Rules of Court in two separate federal court systems adds a further layer of procedural requirements not fully contained in the Act itself","Partial exclusions (proceedings that are only partly excluded) create complexity around when and how much of the statement is required","Cross-referencing with numerous other Acts (Fair Work, Family Law, Migration, Native Title, etc.) requires understanding of those frameworks to determine applicability","The cost discretion mechanism requires understanding of general costs principles in federal civil litigation"],"plain_english_summary":"## Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011 — What Does It Mean For You?\n\n### The Big Picture\nThis law requires people who want to **sue someone in certain federal courts** (the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit and Family Court Division 2) to first **genuinely try to resolve their dispute** before walking through the courthouse door.\n\n### Who Does This Affect?\nAnyone who wants to start a civil lawsuit (a legal claim between private parties — not a criminal case) in the Federal Court or Federal Circuit and Family Court (Division 2).\n\n### What Do You Have To Do?\nBefore filing your lawsuit, you must make a **sincere, genuine attempt** to sort out the dispute. This could include:\n- **Telling the other side** what the problem is and offering to talk about it\n- **Sharing relevant documents** so they understand the situation\n- **Trying mediation or negotiation** (where a neutral third party helps both sides reach an agreement)\n- **Attempting direct negotiation**, yourself or through a representative\n\n### The Paperwork Requirement\nWhen you file your lawsuit, you must also file a **\"genuine steps statement\"** — a document that either:\n- Explains the steps you took to try to resolve the dispute, **OR**\n- Explains **why you didn't take any steps** (e.g., the matter was urgent, or someone's safety was at risk)\n\nThe person being sued must also file their own statement, either agreeing with yours or explaining where they disagree.\n\n### What If Your Lawyer Is Involved?\nIf you have a lawyer, they are **legally required** to tell you about this obligation and help you comply with it. If a lawyer fails to do this and gets ordered to pay costs as a result, they **cannot pass that cost on to you**.\n\n### What Happens If You Don't Comply?\nNot filing the statement **won't get your case thrown out** — your lawsuit can still proceed. However, the court **can take it into account** when deciding who pays legal costs (court costs can be significant, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars). Failing to genuinely try to resolve the dispute could mean you end up paying more costs, even if you win.\n\n### Exceptions — When Does This NOT Apply?\nMany types of proceedings are **exempt**, including:\n- **Family law** matters\n- **Migration** cases\n- **Fair Work** (employment) disputes\n- **Criminal** or regulatory penalty proceedings\n- **Appeal cases**\n- **Urgent** or **ex parte** matters (where only one side is heard, e.g., emergency injunctions)\n- **Native Title** proceedings\n- Matters involving **vexatious litigants** (people declared by courts to be serial, abusive lawsuit-filers)\n- Cases reviewed by bodies like the **Administrative Review Tribunal** or **Veterans' Review Board**\n\n### The Bottom Line\nThis law nudges people to **try talking it out before lawyering up**. It won't stop you going to court, but if you ignore it, you risk being penalised on legal costs. Think of it as a \"try first, sue second\" requirement."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose of mandating pre-action dispute resolution steps for eligible federal civil proceedings. The scope has not expanded beyond this core objective; the exclusions in Parts 4 and 5 maintain appropriate boundaries rather than representing scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 19 sections across 5 Parts","Straightforward core concept (pre-action dispute resolution) with minimal conditional logic","Limited cross-referencing — primarily references to court rules and a handful of other Acts in the exclusions list","Simple structure: preliminary matters, obligations, court powers, exclusions, and miscellaneous provisions","Definitions section contains only 9 defined terms, most using plain language or referencing other Acts","Exclusions in Part 4 are extensive but presented as a simple list format without nested conditions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis law requires people to try to resolve their disputes before taking them to certain federal courts. It applies to civil (non-criminal) cases in the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit and Family Court (Division 2).\n\n**The core requirement:**\n\nBefore starting court proceedings, the person bringing the case (the **applicant**) must file a \"genuine steps statement.\" This document explains what steps they've already taken to try to settle the dispute, or why they couldn't take such steps (for example, because the matter was urgent or someone's safety was at risk). The person being sued (the **respondent**) must also file a statement responding to the applicant's claims.\n\n**What counts as \"genuine steps\":**\n\nThe law gives examples like:\n- Notifying the other side about the issues and offering to discuss them\n- Sharing relevant documents and information\n- Trying mediation or other alternative dispute resolution\n- Attempting to negotiate\n\n**What happens if you don't comply:**\n\nImportantly, **you can still start court proceedings even without filing the statement** — the case won't be thrown out. However, the court can consider whether you made genuine efforts when deciding who pays legal costs. Lawyers also have a duty to advise their clients about these requirements, and they can be personally ordered to pay costs if they fail to do so.\n\n**Who this doesn't apply to:**\n\nMany types of proceedings are excluded, including:\n- Criminal matters and civil penalty cases\n- Family law, migration, and citizenship cases\n- Appeals\n- Cases involving national security, proceeds of crime, and native title\n- Cases declared \"vexatious\" (where someone is abusing the court system)\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThe law aims to reduce unnecessary litigation, save time and money, and encourage parties to resolve disputes without going to court. It's part of a broader push toward \"access to justice\" by making sure people don't rush to court before exploring other options."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The supplied text presents the Act as originally enacted, specifying the Act's operation, eligible courts, and explicit exclusions. There is no information in the provided text that the Act's scope has been altered from its original terms; commencement dates are recorded (section 2) but no amendments or scope changes are indicated in the material provided."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to court Rules and delegated regulations that define form, timing and excluded proceedings (sections 8, 17, 18, 19).","Broad, open-ended definition of what counts as \"genuine steps\" with illustrative rather than exhaustive examples (section 4).","Discretionary enforcement: courts \"may take account\" of statements and conduct rather than prescribe automatic sanctions (sections 11–12).","Specific exclusions and lists referencing multiple other Acts and bodies, requiring readers to check interactions with other statutes (Part 4, sections 15–16).","Personal liability for lawyers in a limited circumstances (section 12(3)) combined with a general duty to advise (section 9) increases downstream compliance complexity."],"plain_english_summary":"## What this law changes, mechanically\n\n- It requires people who start civil cases in certain federal courts to file a short statement explaining the \"genuine steps\" they took to try to resolve the dispute before filing (applicants) (see section 6).\n- If an applicant files such a statement, the other party (respondent) must file a response before the hearing date, either agreeing or explaining why they disagree (see section 7).\n- Lawyers who act for people required to file a statement must tell their client about the requirement and help them comply (see section 9).\n- Courts may take account of whether parties filed statements and whether they took genuine steps when exercising powers, including making cost orders (see sections 11 and 12). A failure to file a statement does not invalidate proceedings (see section 10(2)).\n- The courts’ rules may specify the form and content of the statements (see sections 8 and 18). Regulations can prescribe categories of proceedings that are excluded from these requirements (see sections 17 and 19). The Act sets a list of specific exclusions in Part 4 (see sections 15–16).\n\n## Official stated purpose\n\n- The Act’s declared object is to ensure, as far as possible, that people take genuine steps to resolve disputes before certain civil proceedings are started (see section 3).\n\n## How the law operates in practice (costs, incentives, trade-offs, and implementation points)\n\n- Who pays: parties starting or defending eligible proceedings bear the direct compliance costs of preparing and filing genuine steps statements (sections 6–7). Lawyers must spend time advising and assisting clients (section 9); if a lawyer is ordered to pay costs personally for failing to comply with that duty, the lawyer cannot recover those costs from the client (section 12(3)).\n\n- Incentives created: the requirement and the court’s power to consider statements when making cost orders (sections 11–12) create an incentive for parties to attempt pre‑litigation resolution and to file truthful statements. The Act relies on judicial discretion over costs rather than automatic penalties (sections 11–12 and 10(2)), so the incentive is mediated by how courts apply those discretions.\n\n- Compliance burden and administrative risk: preparing, filing and responding to statements imposes additional procedural work on applicants, respondents and lawyers (sections 6–9). The Rules of Court may add further form and timing requirements (sections 8 and 18), so procedural burden can vary by court rules. Because proceedings are not invalidated for failure to file (section 10(2)), enforcement mainly depends on discretionary cost consequences (sections 11–12), which may produce uneven application.\n\n- Discretion and implementation variability: the Act gives courts broad scope to \"take account\" of statements and steps (sections 11 and 12) without specifying precise thresholds. That reliance on judicial judgement, plus delegated procedural detail in Rules of Court and potential regulations (sections 8, 17, 18 and 19), means practice may differ between courts and over time.\n\n- Scope and limits: the Act applies only in specified \"eligible courts\" (section 5) and excludes many types of proceedings listed in Part 4 (sections 15–16). Regulations can further prescribe excluded proceedings (section 17). The Act also preserves other laws about disclosure, production and admissibility of evidence (section 17A), so this requirement sits alongside existing legal duties.\n\n## Potential behavioural effects and trade-offs (mechanisms, not judgements)\n\n- The rule pushes parties toward negotiation or alternative resolution before filing, because courts can weigh pre‑action conduct when allocating costs (sections 11–12).\n- Parties may comply substantively (genuine negotiation) or comply technically (file minimal statements) — the Act’s mechanisms do not mandate specific resolution methods, only statements and a judge’s assessment (sections 4, 6–7, 11–12).\n- Because exclusions are explicit and expandable by regulation (sections 15–17 and 19), some disputes (for example certain Commonwealth proceedings and specified statutory areas) are outside the requirement, concentrating the obligation on commercial and private civil matters heard in the eligible courts (section 5 and Part 4).\n\n## Implementation risks and opportunity costs\n\n- The main enforcement tool is judicial discretion on costs (sections 11–12), not procedural invalidation (section 10(2)); this produces a risk of inconsistent outcomes across cases and courts.\n- The duty on lawyers (section 9) shifts some compliance costs onto legal practitioners and creates a personal cost exposure in narrow circumstances (section 12(3)).\n- Rule‑making and regulation powers (sections 18 and 19) mean much operational detail is set outside the Act, which can speed adaptation but also creates dependence on subordinate instruments for uniform implementation.\n\n(References in parentheses are to sections of the Act as provided above.)"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011","history":"/api/acts/civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011/history","analysis":"/api/acts/civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/civil-dispute-resolution-act-2011/documents"}}