Print Management Facilities Australia Pty Ltd v Rizzoli [2025] QDC 74

Judgment (4 paragraphs)

[1]

[1] On 27 February 2025, the plaintiff commenced proceedings by way of Claim for various money orders and an equitable declaration.
[2] The plaintiff now applies, ex parte and to be heard on the papers, for an order for substituted service pursuant to r 116 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules.
[3] Unfortunately, this is yet another example of a precipitous application for substituted service.[1] Happily, unlike many precedent examples, this application is founded on evidence in admissible form. It is fortunate that is so because, even though the application was determined ex parte and heard on the papers pursuant to the plaintiff's request, the written submissions in support of the application accurately outlined the bare facts in support of the application in terms of dates and places, but do not identify the deficiencies in the application.
[4] A process server attended on the defendant's address on 6 March 2025. He was greeted by a male who identified himself as the defendant's husband. He stated his wife works long and irregular hours. The process server called a phone number he understood to be the defendant's. A woman answered who identified herself as the defendant said she would be at her residence and happy to accept service the next day between 10am and midday. The process server informed her that he was unable to attend at that time and enquired about an alternative time. The defendant responded that the next available time would be between 10am and midday the following Friday, 14 March 2025.
[5] There is no evidence of anybody attending the address at either arranged time to effect service. There is no evidence of any further attempts to contact the defendant. There is evidence that a different process server attended the address on 4 April 2025 and 7 April 2025, and that there was nothing to suggest anybody was at the residence on either occasion.

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Judgment (4 paragraphs)

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