Notice of Reply (Form 10B)

Since 2021, Part 3A of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 lets the Magistrates' Court hear matters VCAT cannot decide because they involve federal subject matter, such as a rental dispute where the rental provider lives interstate. These are called substituted proceedings (s 57A) and are started by a Form 10A complaint or summons (r 10A.02 of the Magistrates' Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2020). Rule 10A.03 says a respondent must give a notice of reply to the applicant within 14 days after being served, unless the Court orders otherwise, and that the notice must be in Form 10B.

When you need it

• You have been served with a Form 10A substituted proceeding complaint or summons and you want to defend it.
• Common examples are residential tenancy, owners corporation, building, retail lease and human rights matters that would normally go to VCAT but involve parties from different states.
• Not needed where the matter is an urgent substituted proceeding listed within 14 days: the respondent does not have to file a notice of reply (r 10A.04(3)).

1. 1

   Copy the heading from Form 10A

   Use the court number, venue, applicant and respondent names and addresses from the complaint or summons, then add your filing details.

2. 2

   Address it to the applicant and the registrar

   Insert the venue of the Magistrates' Court named in the Form 10A. The form states that you intend to defend the substituted proceeding.

3. 3

   Set out your reply

   Briefly outline your response to the dispute in numbered paragraphs.

4. 4

   Sign and date

   The respondent or the respondent's Australian lawyer signs. Tick whether it was signed by you in person, by an authorised officer of a respondent company, or by your lawyer.

5. 5

   Give your addresses

   State your address and your address for service. If you act for yourself and neither the Service and Execution of Process Act nor the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act applies, give an address in Victoria that is not a post office box. Add an electronic address for service; it is treated as your address for electronic communication (r 10A.05(2)(b)(ii)).

• Time limit: within 14 days after you were served with the Form 10A, unless the Court orders otherwise (r 10A.03(1)).
• Give the notice to the applicant (r 10A.03(1)); the form is addressed to both the applicant and the registrar, and the court's federal jurisdiction page says to file the Form 10B within 14 days.
• The Form 10A will show a time to appear before the court, which the court's page says you must attend.
• Service in these matters follows VCAT Act ss 140 and 141 and VCAT rule 4.10, and documents do not have to be served personally (r 10A.05).
• The court's page says fees in federal jurisdiction matters are the same as VCAT's - check the VCAT fees page.

• Order 21 of the General Civil Procedure Rules (default orders) does not apply to substituted proceedings (r 10A.06), but you should still reply on time and attend the hearing.
• The Civil Procedure Act 2010 does not apply to proceedings under Part 3A of the VCAT Act (s 4(2)(ja)), so the overarching obligations certification (Form 4A) used in ordinary civil claims is not part of this process.
• Keep a record of how and when you sent the reply to the applicant.