An affidavit is written statement of facts to be used in proceedings before a court or tribunal that is sworn or affirmed to be true. It must be signed by the person making it in front of an authorised person, such as a solicitor or Justice of the Peace, who also signs it as a witness. It must be in a particular form, which is detailed below.
An affidavit is one form in which a person may give evidence in matters before the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales (Commission). The person who makes the affidavit is called the deponent.
Parties and witnesses, may give their evidence to the Commission by affidavit. This might include people such as the applicant; the respondent; or a witness called by either party, including an expert witness.
When an affidavit is filed as evidence to the Commission, a copy of the affidavit should be served on all parties to the proceeding.
When a party is directed to file evidence by a certain date that party can ordinarily choose to meet that requirement by filing either witness statement that is merely signed, or an affidavit which is sworn or affirmed to be true in front of an authorised person. See also Preparing a Witness Statement.
There are circumstances where an affidavit must be filed, rather than merely a signed witness statement. That might be because the Commission has directed that evidence be filed in affidavit form. It may be required by the Rules or a Practice Note. The most common examples of when an affidavit must be provided are set out below.
An application for an issue to be dealt with urgently will often require a Notice of Motion, accompanied by an affidavit setting out why the proceedings should be dealt with urgently.1 2
An application for a consent award must be supported by an affidavit setting out the way in which the consent award provides equal remuneration and other conditions of employment for men and women doing work of equal or comparable value. The affidavit must also explain why the consent award is in the public interest having regard to the matters set out in section 162(2) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW) (IR Act).3
An application for approval of an enterprise agreement or contract agreement must be accompanied by an affidavit that:
The Commission, sitting as the Industrial Court, may require the applicant in proceedings for a contravention of dispute orders and other offences under the IR Act to file an affidavit in support of the application that verifies:
An application to the Commission to declare a contract void or varied under s 106 of the IR Act must be accompanied by an affidavit that verifies the issues set out in the application. Any reply or response from the applicant or respondent must also be accompanied by an affidavit.6
An affidavit must be filed with an Application for Leave to introduce fresh evidence on appeal that sets out:
Additionally, any evidence in support of a charge for contempt of the Commission must be by affidavit.8
The applicant in proceedings for a contravention of dispute orders and other offences under the IR Act must serve a summons and a copy of an affidavit verifying service no later than five (5) days before the return date of the summons.9
An affidavit must be filed with a Notice of Motion when seeking leave (permission) to issue a summons in an appeal.10
The prosecutor in WHS proceedings must file an affidavit in support of the application that verifies the allegations and a minute of the order sought.11
The person who serves a document on another party may complete an Affidavit of Service signed before an authorised witness such as a Justice of the Peace (JP). An affidavit of service must contain:
An affidavit should only include facts that the person who is making the affidavit knows to be true to the best of their knowledge or belief.
An affidavit should only contain facts relevant to an issue in dispute. Under Part 35 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR), the deponent must only include and swear to facts that are within their own personal knowledge or experience.15
Whether evidence is relevant will depend on the type of claim and if there is a logical connection between the information provided in the affidavit and an issue in dispute.16 The evidence will be relevant if it could rationally affect the decision-maker's assessment of the probability of the existence of a fact in issue.17
See also Preparing a Witness Statement.
No. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools must not be used, without leave of the Commission,18 to generate the content of an affidavit, annexure or exhibit. This includes using GenAI to alter, embellish, strengthen, dilute or rephrase a deponent’s evidence.19
An affidavit must include a statement that GenAI was not used to generate the content.20
Read the Commission’s Practice Note No 33 on the Use of GenAI.
An affidavit can be filed through the NSW Online Registry. Alternatively, the affidavit can be submitted by email, post or in-person at the Commission in limited circumstances.
Affidavits must not be filed unless it is filed in accordance with Part 35 of the UCPR, Industrial Relations Commission Rules 2022 (NSW) and the Commission’s Practice Notes.
The deponent must include their name and the date on which the affidavit was executed in the heading of the document.21
The deponent must state the following on the first page:
| Court or Commission | Whether the matter will be heard at the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW OR the Industrial Court of NSW |
| Case number | The unique identifier assigned to your matter; |
| Title of Proceedings | Details of the parties in the matter; |
| Filing details | Contact details for the person filing the affidavit. |
Page two must:
The jurat or signature panel at the end of the affidavit is where the deponent and the authorised witness both sign the document. The jurat cannot appear on the last page alone. There must be at least one paragraph of text before the jurat.
An authorised witness under section 26 of the Oaths Act 1900 (NSW) (Oaths Act) includes:
The Department of Communities and Justice has a JP Register that can be accessed here. An interpreter can be accessed through Service NSW if needed.
The deponent must sign the affidavit in the presence of the authorised witness. Every page of the affidavit must also be signed by the deponent and authorised witness.23
The authorised witness must see the face of the deponent24 and confirm their identity with an approved identification document (ID) if they have not known them for at least 12 months.25 The authorised witness may request any face covering that prevents identification to be removed unless an exemption applies.26
Signatures cannot be digital in accordance with Clause 5 of the Electronic Transactions Regulations 2017 (NSW). This means that signatures must be in wet ink.
The approved ID must include the deponent’s photo, and the name on the ID must match the name on the affidavit.
Approved ID under Schedule 2 of the Oaths Regulation 2024 (NSW) (original or certified copy)27 can include:
The document relied upon must not be expired, cancelled and must be in English (or provide a certified English translation).28 Otherwise, the authorised witness will not be able to sign the affidavit.
The affidavit may not be used if it has been edited or altered in any way after it has been signed. This includes any text being inserted, erased or otherwise altered.
The only exception is if an affidavit is edited or altered and the same authorised witness and deponent initial the change or, in the case of an erasure, rewrites the text in the margin of the affidavit any words or figures written on the erasure and signs or initials them.29
Annexures and exhibits can be used in conjunction with an affidavit.30 An annexure is a document attached to the end of an affidavit that provides additional information in support of something said in a corresponding paragraph, while an exhibit is a document or object referred to in an affidavit but kept separate from the document.
Annexures should be referred to by a bold letter in the affidavit. For example, “I emailed my boss on 1 October 2025. Annexed to this affidavit and marked with the letter ‘A’ is a copy of the email.” Write the identifying letter at the top of each annexure and attach the documents in alphabetical order at the back of the affidavit.
A party may file multiple affidavits with the Commission that refer to the same document. The same reference letter should be used if a secondary affidavit refers to a document that has been annexed to a previous affidavit. Any documents previously filed with the Commission should not be annexed to an affidavit.
Annexures and exhibits to an affidavit must be identified by a certificate signed by the authorised witness before whom the affidavit is executed.31
An exhibit to an affidavit is something that cannot be filed, such as an audio or video recording.32 The party must serve the exhibit in conjunction with the affidavit by:
Any person who wilfully and knowingly makes a false statement in the affidavit may be found guilty of perjury.34 The prosecution must be commenced with the approval of the NSW Attorney General.35
Every person wilfully swearing falsely in any affidavit made before any authorised witness shall be deemed guilty of perjury and be subject to the same penalties that apply to a person who has wilfully sworn falsely in open Court.36
1 Industrial Relations Commission Rules 2022 (NSW) r 3.3(1).; 2 Generally, s 130 Dispute Notifications can be notified to the Registrar directly, with a Notice of Motion.; 3 Ibid r 6.8(1).; 4 Ibid r 6.9.; 5 Ibid r 7B.2(3).; 6 Ibid r 7D.3(7).; 7 Ibid r 7.3.; 8 Ibid r 8.8A.; 9 Ibid r 7B.4.; 10 Ibid r 7.8.; 11 Ibid r 7C.3(2)., 12 Ibid r 35.8(2).; 13 Ibid r 35.3B(2).; 14 Ibid r 35.8(1).; 15 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 35.3(3).; 16 Papakosmas v The Queen (1999) 196 CLR 297 at [81].; 17 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) s 55(1).;18 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 r 35.3B(3).; 19 Ibid r 35.3B(1).; 20 Ibid r 35.3B(2).; 21 Ibid r 35.3A.; 22 Oaths Act 1900 (NSW) s 26.; 23 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 35.7B.; 24 Ibid s 34(1).; 25 Oaths Regulation 2024 (NSW) cl 5.; 26 Oaths Act 1900 (NSW) s 34(3); Oaths Regulation 2024 (NSW) cl 4.; 27 Ibid (NSW) cl 6(1).; 28 Ibid cl 6(2).; 29 Ibid r 35.5.; 30 Ibid r 35.6(1).; 31 Ibid 35.6(2)-(4).; 32 Ibid r 35.6(5).; 33 Ibid r 35.6(6).; 34 Ibid s 33(1).; 35 Ibid s 33(2).; 36 Ibid s 29.
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