How to complete a Supreme Court of Western Australia affidavit form

This page explains how to complete an affidavit form for use in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in compliance with the Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA) (RSC) and the Consolidated Practice Directions (the CPD).

Before you begin, you may wish to download an affidavit form for the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Headings

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The names of the parties and case number should be filled out in the headings in the places indicated. If the affidavit is filed in a defamation act, the Commercial and Managed Cases List (CMC List) or in the Court of Appeal, additional identifying information must be included in the headings: see CPD 1.2.1.

Affidavit must be made by deponent speaking of their own knowledge

An affidavit for use in the Supreme Court of Western Australia must be confined to such facts as the deponent is able of their own knowledge to prove (r 36(6)(1) RSC).

There are exceptions for interlocutory proceedings and in certain other circumstances, although conditions apply (see r 36(6) RSC).

Text of the affidavit

The affidavit must be made in the first person (r 379(2)(1) RSC).

The opening lines of the affidavit provide for the person making the affidavit to insert their residential address and occupation. The address must be the residential address – a business address cannot be used (r 37(2)(1) RSC).

If the person making the affidavit does not have an occupation their description must be stated instead (r 37(2)(1) RSC). Some examples of the kinds of descriptions that can be used are “housewife,” “househusband,” “an unemployed person,” “retiree” etc. Vague occupations or descriptions must not be used (r 37(2)(1) RSC).

If the person making the affidavit is a party to the matter in which the affidavit is sworn, or is employed by a party, the affidavit must state so (r 37(2)(2) RSC). For example, the first numbered paragraph of the affidavit could state:

1 I am employed by the plaintiff on a part-time basis in its accounts department, three days per week.

The body of an affidavit must be divided into paragraphs numbered consecutively, each paragraph being as far as possible confined to a distinct portion of the subject (r 37(2)(3) RSC). In practise, this means that each paragraph should contain no more than 2-3 sentences.

Dates, amounts and numbers must be expressed in figures and not in words (r 37(2)(4) RSC). For example you should write “54 days” not “fifty four days.

Attachments and exhibits to affidavits for the Supreme Court of Western Australia

Documents used with an affidavit are usually called attachments because they are attached to the affidavit, with the page numbering continuing consecutively after the jurat page. However documents of an unusual size must not be attached. They must be made exhibits instead.

Detailed rules apply to the use of attachments and exhibits. These rules are set out in O 37 r 2 and r 9 of the RSC.

If the affidavit uses one or more attachments, an index which refers to the affidavit and lists each attachment, its page numbers and a short description of it, must be in the affidavit (O 37 r 2(7). The template includes such an index. The index should be deleted if attachments are not used.

Swearing or affirming the affidavit

The affidavit must be sworn or affirmed before an authorised witness in the manner required by the Oaths, Affirmations and Statutory Declarations Act 2005 (WA) (OASDA) came into operation on 1 January 2006.

If the person making the affidavit is blind or illiterate, the authorised witness for the document must certify on the affidavit that the affidavit was read aloud to the person (which must be done by the authorised witness or in their presence) and that the authorised witness is satisfied that the person understood what was read aloud (s 13 OASDA).

A form of words for this certification would be to add them following the authorised witness’s description in the jurat. For example:

Before me, [insert name of authorised witness], a legal practitioner who has held a practice certificate for at least 2 years and who holds a current practice certificate. I certify that I read this affidavit aloud to [insert name of person making affidavit] and that I am satisfied that [he / she] understood what was read aloud.