Volkswagen Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd v Hughson [2025] FedCFamC2G 2159

(a) the amended application filed on 6 November 2025;

(b) the affidavits of Vicki Janelle Coombe filed on 22 May 2025 and 6 November 2025; and

(c) a copy of this Order.

1. Within 7 days of effecting service in accordance with order 1, the applicant is to file and serve an affidavit of service.
2. The first respondent is to file and serve a response by 4:30pm on 13 January 2026.
3. The matter be listed for a further directions hearing on 6 February 2026 at 12:00pm AWST.
4. The parties have liberty to apply.

1. The applicant acknowledges that this matter cannot proceed in the small claims jurisdiction of the Court.
2. Pursuant to r 10.09(a) of the GFL Rules, the first respondent is deemed to have been personally served with the originating application on 16 December 2025, being the date on which he filed a notice of address for service.

1. If the second respondent files a notice of address for service prior to the applicant serving documents in accordance with order 1, personal service will be deemed effective in accordance with r 10.09 of the GFL Rules and the need for the applicant to comply with order 1 will be dispensed with.

1. Counsel for the applicant has agreed to email to the first respondent, using the email address in his notice of address for service filed on 16 December 2025, a further copy of all court documents that have been filed in this proceeding.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court's records.

Note: The Court may vary or set aside a judgment or order to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 24.04(g) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2025 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 24.04 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2025 (Cth).

(Delivered ex tempore and revised from the transcript)

1. I have before me today a directions hearing in relation to a consumer protection matter filed by Volkswagen Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd.[1] There are two respondents to the proceeding. The first respondent, Mr Jamie Hughson, filed a notice of address for service on 16 December 2025. The second respondent, Mr Timothy John Hughson, has not filed a notice of address for service.
2. The applicant served both respondents by post, rather than by personal service in accordance with Division 10.1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2025 (Cth) (GFL Rules).
3. The first respondent has appeared in Court today and has objected to the service by the applicant. The objection is not on the basis that the documents were not served personally, but rather on the basis that they were posted to an incorrect address.
4. The first respondent alleged that he has been denied procedural fairness because he has not been served the documents at the correct address. He included a postal address in his notice of address for service, but this is an address which is care of a post office, rather than a residential address. The first respondent is proposing that the applicant be required to serve the documents on him by posting them to the postal address recorded in his notice of address for service to ensure that he is given procedural fairness.
5. I have considered the position of the first respondent, but I do not think it is necessary to make the order sought by him. I acknowledge, in reaching this view, that the applicant did not effect personal service in the usual way required by the GFL Rules. However, a purpose of service is to ensure that the originating documents served come to the other party's attention and to ensure that the Court can be satisfied of that. I am satisfied that this matter has come to the first respondent's attention.
6. There is a provision in the GFL Rules that relates to deemed service of an originating application. That is r 10.09 of the GFL Rules, which provides:

Unless an application has been made under rule 12.01, if a respondent files a notice of address for service or a response, or appears before the Court in response to an originating application, the originating application is taken to have been served personally on the respondent:

(a) on the date on which the first of those events occurred; or

(b) if personal service on the respondent is proved on an earlier date - on the earlier date.

1. In this case, there has been no application made under r 12.01 of the GFL Rules. The first respondent filed a notice of address for service on 16 December 2025 and is deemed to have been served personally on that date.
2. In circumstances where the first respondent, under the GFL Rules, has been deemed to have been served personally, and where it is clear that the documents have come to his attention because he is appearing in Court today, there is no utility in making an order requiring documents to be served again by post to a different address.
3. In these circumstances, I will include a notation in the Court Order that I make later in this directions hearing to reflect that the first respondent has been deemed to have been personally served with the relevant documents pursuant to r 10.09(a) of the GFL Rules.
4. I will hear from the parties separately in relation to the position of the second respondent.
5. I would also note for completeness that I do not consider that the first respondent has been denied procedural fairness if the Court proceeds on the basis that he has been deemed to have been served with the documents. The first respondent was not required to file any substantive response before the directions hearing today. The first respondent is aware of all the documents and will be heard in this proceeding, and the Court will make procedural orders to ensure that the first respondent has the opportunity to properly present his case to the Court.

I certify that the preceding eleven (11) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment of Judge Ladhams.

[1] Several issues were addressed at the directions hearing. These reasons relate only to the issue addressed in Notation B to the Order made on 19 December 2025.