A subpoena is a legal document issued by a court.
A subpoena can require a person (the ‘named person’) to:
You need to ask the Court for it to issue a subpoena. You can ask at a court hearing or by written request. If your request is approved, and the Court issues the subpoena, you (the ‘issuing party’) need to serve the subpoena on the named person, and they will have to provide the documents to the Court and/or attend to give evidence (unless they object to the subpoena).
This page describes the process for requesting a subpoena. There is also information on what to do if you receive a subpoena.
You can request a subpoena issue if a person:
Before you request a subpoena, you should make all attempts to get the required documents or evidence. This may include asking the person to provide the documents or prepare a witness affidavit.
You should not request a subpoena for production and to give evidence if just producing the documents would be sufficient.
To subpoena documents or a person to give evidence, or both, you need to:
The named person will then have to comply with the subpoena, unless they object. The named person will:
Before filing a subpoena, you need to request permission from the Court. You should usually request permission to file a subpoena at a court event. If you make a request in writing you must provide certain information to the Court. See Case Management Guideline 72.2.
In parenting cases, the Court will not issue a subpoena unless you have permission from the Judicial Officer managing your case.
In property and financial cases the Court will not usually issue a subpoena before the Conciliation Conference, or after the Readiness Hearing.
For the hearing of an application seeking interim, procedural or other incidental orders, a party or an independent children’s lawyer can seek the issue of a subpoena to produce documents without permission from the Court.
When seeking permission to file a subpoena, the letter to the Court should explain:
A subpoena against:-
(a) a family dispute resolution practitioner
(b) a family counsellor
(c) employees of Anglicare, Centrecare or Relationships Australia
will not be issued unless certain requirements are met. See Practice Direction No. 2 of 2011 for details.
There are additional requirements when requesting a subpoena issue to the Department of Communities. You have to provide the Court with certain information before the Court will permit a subpoena to issue. See Practice Direction No. 1 of 2014 for details.
The Court will allocate a production date when the subpoena is filed. The production date will be no earlier than 21 days after filing.
The documents must be produced to the court by the named person on or before this date. On or after the production date, the issuing party must complete, file and serve a ‘Notice of Request to Inspect’, confirming that the subpoena has been served on the named person, all parties and any interested person, and that no objection has been received by them.
The named person, an interested person or an independent children's lawyer can object, and the Court can order that:
When you file the Notice of Request to Inspect, you can make an appointment to inspect the documents. Your appointment will be no earlier than 3 business days after the production date. The Court will confirm if there has been any objection to the production, inspection or copying of the documents.
If no objection has been received, you will be allowed to inspect the documents. You will be allowed to copy documents other than police or criminal records, medical records or documents from the Department of Communities.
This notice must be completed, filed and served by the party who sought the subpoena be issued. It cannot be filed before the production date. The notice requires you to confirm you have served the subpoena on the named person and all other parties, and that you have not received any objection to the production, inspection or copying of the documents.
If a person’s medical records are sought pursuant to a subpoena, that person may, before the production date, request to inspect their medical records to see whether they wish to object to any other party inspecting or copying their records. If they object, they must file and serve a Part F Notice of objection - subpoena. If an objection is filed, the subpoena is referred to Court for a determination of the objection. Any objection must be filed within 7 days of the production date.
The court can stop a person’s private and personal information (‘sensitive information’) from being shared if the harm it could cause to them or a child is greater than the need to use that information as evidence in their family law matter. In other words, the court will weigh up whether sharing the private information would hurt someone more than it would help. The best interests of the child will be the most important thing for the court to consider in a parenting matter.
The sensitive information that can be protected relates to a "protected confidence". A protected confidence is a private communication shared during a professional relationship with health workers like doctors or counsellors, or with people who help victims of sexual assault or family violence.
If a subpoena is issued requiring someone to provide the court with a person’s sensitive information, that person may, before the production date, request to inspect the information before deciding if they want to stop others from seeing or copying the information. If they object to anyone else seeing or copying the information, they must file and serve a Part F Notice of objection - subpoena. If an objection is filed, the subpoena is referred to Court for a determination of the objection. Any objection must be filed within 7 days of the production date.
A person can also make an application to protect their information in other situations (if there is no subpoena), by filing an application in a case (Form 2) with an affidavit in support. The affidavit should include the person’s evidence as to why they or a child involved in the case could be harmed if the information is shared, and how the harm from sharing the information is worse than any benefit from using it in Court. The Court can make orders to control what happens with sensitive documents or evidence. These directions can stop certain parts or whole documents from being shared, looked at, copied, or used in Court.
Last updated: 13-Jun-2025
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