Subpoena

The Open Government, Information and Privacy Unit (OGIP Unit), Legal, is the authorised unit responsible for receiving, recording, processing and disseminating valid subpoenas issued to the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ).

You can view the department’s policy in full - Subpoena, summons, statutory notice or order requiring production of documents or things (PDF , 279.0 KB)

If you require an accessible version of the documents on this page, please email infoandprivacy@dcj.nsw.gov.au.

What is a Subpoena?

A subpoena is a court order, issued at the request of a party involved in a court proceeding. Subpoenas are issued in both criminal and civil matters by any State or Federal court. Parties to court proceedings, who require child protection, disability, housing, administrative or employment documents, must provide a $100 cheque or money order made payable to the Department of Communities and Justice for conduct money and issue the subpoena with AT LEAST 10 CLEAR WORKING DAYS notice to:

Subpoenas put in the post can be sent electronically (with a copy of the cheque or money order) to subpoenas@dcj.nsw.gov.au.

Please describe in the schedule what documents are sought. If you require information about a person, a date of birth allows the department to accurately identify the subject person.

Please contact the OGIP Unit by email, or call (02) 9716 2662, if you have any questions regarding the service of subpoenas to DCJ.

Subpoena for production

When a subpoena for documents is issued the requested material will be sent directly to the nominated court.

Subpoena for an officer to give evidence

When a subpoena is issued for an employee of the department to attend and give evidence, the subpoena must be served directly on the officer concerned. Reasonable expenses, as negotiated with the officer or the officer’s manager, must be paid ahead of time.

Additional Processing charges

The basic conduct money of $100 covers files up to 250 pages. If more than 250 pages are covered by the schedule an additional processing charges of 0.25c a page is charged. Courier costs are also recovered. If you wish to be notified where more than 250 pages are identified, you must set this out in the covering letter that accompanies the subpoena. Please also clearly give a contact officer’s name and phone number for any queries that may arise.

Please see Government Gazette Notice (PDF , 213.4 KB) dated April 2016 for additional information.