Statement of claim (UCPR) (Form 16)

A plaintiff must attach a statement of claim to the claim (r 22(2)(b), Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld)). It is a pleading, so it must meet the formal requirements in rule 146 (numbered pages, consecutively numbered paragraphs each containing a separate allegation, signed, and naming counsel if counsel settled it) and the content rules in chapter 6: be as brief as the case permits, state all material facts but not the evidence, and state specifically any relief claimed (r 149). Some matters, such as breach of contract, fraud, negligence, misrepresentation and interest, must be specifically pleaded (r 150), and damages and interest need particulars (rr 155, 159).

When you need it

• You are starting a proceeding by claim (Form 2). Every claim must have a statement of claim attached.
• You are amending your pleaded case. An amended statement of claim follows the same rules.
• Not with an originating application. Applications have no pleadings and rely on affidavits instead.

1. 1

   Copy the heading from the claim

   Use the same court, registry, number and party names as the claim.

2. 2

   Plead the material facts

   Set out, in consecutively numbered paragraphs, each containing as far as practicable a separate allegation, the material facts you rely on (rr 146, 149). Plead the facts that make up your cause of action, not the evidence that proves them. Identify any specific provision of an Act you rely on (r 149(1)(e)).

3. 3

   State the relief claimed

   Set out in full the relief claimed, including the nature and amount of each type of damages (r 155). If you claim interest, give the amount it is claimed on, the rate, the date it runs from and the method of calculation (r 159), unless you claim at the practice direction rate.

4. 4

   Elect a jury if you want one

   In the Supreme or District Court, the plaintiff may elect trial by jury in the statement of claim unless an Act excludes it (r 472). The form notes this option is for the Supreme and District Courts only.

5. 5

   Sign and note counsel

   The plaintiff or solicitor signs and describes the signatory. If counsel settled the pleading, state counsel's name (r 146(1)(g)).

6. 6

   Complete the notices

   Keep the notice as to defence, which tells the defendant to attach their defence to the notice of intention to defend. If the claim is only for a debt or liquidated demand, complete the rule 150(3) notice showing the amount claimed, interest and costs, and the additional costs of default judgment.

• File the statement of claim together with the claim (Form 2), in the central registry or the district where a defendant lives or carries on business, or where the cause of action arose (r 35).
• Serve the claim and statement of claim personally on each defendant (rr 22(3), 105). The claim is in force for 1 year from filing (r 24).
• Legal practitioners can lodge statements of claim in claim proceedings in the Supreme Court at Brisbane through the Queensland Courts and Tribunals Online Services Portal (Principal Registrar Approval 1 of 2025).
• The filing fee is paid on the claim. Check the current fee schedule.

• Do not plead evidence or argument. The court can strike out all or part of a pleading that discloses no reasonable cause of action or tends to prejudice or delay the fair trial, with costs (r 171).
• For a debt or liquidated demand only, rule 150(3) requires particulars of the debt, interest particulars, the costs of issuing, and a statement that the proceeding ends if the defendant pays before the time for a notice of intention to defend runs out.
• Plead the damages properly. For general damages, give the nature of the loss, the exact circumstances in which it was suffered, and how the amount was worked out or estimated (r 155(2)).