writing an affidavit: tips and an example · child, young person1 and family. however, there are...

Information in this factsheet was derived from DCJ Practice Mandates and training (V1)

Last Updated 17 Dec 2019 1

Writing an affidavit: tips and an example

Introduction

Writing to a court standard may be a new area of work for Funded Service Providers

(FSPs). It is understandably daunting for many caseworkers including Department of

Communities and Justice staff.

Most Caseworkers experienced in writing affidavits will tell you they learnt from

making mistakes and having to fix them. Mistakes are part of learning.

No two affidavits will be the same, as they are specific to the circumstances of each

child, young person1 and family. However, there are some general rules which you

can follow to ensure your affidavit conforms to the court expectation for layout and

composition.

To be legally admissible at court, an affidavit’s must be:

• ‘sworn’ or ‘affirmed’ as true by the deponent (author)

• witnessed by an authorised person, which is usually a justice of the peace or legal

practitioner.

Affidavits tips:

• include all relevant facts

• write in the first person using an active voice

• use the correct naming conventions

• use the child or family’s own words

• use descriptions of what you saw and heard rather than conclusions

• provide context to situations which could be misinterpreted

• date all records and include the time of the event and who was present

• divide information under appropriate headings and sub-heading

• list information in chronological order

• use full sentences and be concise

• number pages and annexures

1 Throughout this document we use the word child in place of child or young person.



• summarise annexures in the body of the affidavit, and annex them in full.

Do not include your feelings or personal judgements in your affidavit

Remember, our perceptions of events and conversations are seen through our own

lens, impacted by our life experiences and beliefs. Caseworker affidavits have a

significant influence over court outcomes – ensure you are as objective as possible

and just.

Language is the power your words have on practice. It frames whose

view of reality you are accepting and the type of change you hope to

create

Include all relevant facts:

Affidavits should contain comprehensive facts only, not your feelings or opinions.

The only exception to this is if you are a qualified expert, like a court clinician’s

assessment.

In a child protection context, facts are things you saw and heard or things you can demonstrate. Rather than drawing conclusions on conversations, describe what you

saw and heard, for example instead of saying ‘Amy was upset’ say ‘I saw Amy crying’.

Casework staff must include all relevant information in their affidavit, even if it

doesn’t support their preferred outcome or draws attention to poor casework .

Deliberately misleading the court or giving false and misleading evidence is

considered perjury.



Write in the first person using an active voice:

Writing in the first person means writing from the author’s point of view.

I saw Fatima cry and her shoulders were shaking.

Writing in an active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs an action

stated by the verb, for example:

Mr Jones kicked Pearl on her left shin.

Writing in the first-person active voice is important in affidavit writing because it

describes events from the authors perspective and ensures descriptions are clear.

I went to Pearl’s school and spoke to her NOT Pearl was spoken to at school.

Use correct naming conventions:

Use consistent naming conventions throughout an affidavit. The first time you

reference a person, you need to use their full name (first, middle and surname) and then in brackets list the name you will refer to them as to for the remainder of the

affidavit. For children, this is usually their first name. For professionals and adults, it

is usually Ms or Mr Surname. You also need to include the date of birth for all subject

children, their parents and, in some cases, grandparents.

Example child: Pearl Anna Oswald, born 23 May 2010 (“Pearl”)

Example Manager Casework: Jane Smith (“Ms Smith”)

You should use these same naming conventions for any abbreviated word in your affidavit. For example, the first time you refer to DCJ, write: The Department of

Tip: When writing about conversations in an affidavit include:

▪ when the conversation took place

▪ where it took place

▪ who was present

▪ use the childsor parents own words when possible.



Communities and Justice (“DCJ”) and then you can use DCJ for the remainder of the

affidavit.

Use headings and list information in chronological order and be

concise:

Affidavits can become very lengthy. An affidavit providing historical casework

information is frequently in excess of 20 pages plus annexures. To keep information

clear, affidavits have a prescribed format:

• number each paragraph

• use headings and sub-headings to group similar information

• list facts chronologically within each heading

• use full sentences but be concise – every paragraph should describe an event or

issue.

• tables can be useful to make information clear.

It is expected that the first few paragraphs of an affidavit will follow a similar format,

that is:

1. who you work for and how long you have worked there

2. the qualifications you hold

3. your relationship to the subject child and the length of that relationship.

4. who you report to

5. confirm you have access to records on the subject child

6. affirm or swear that the contents of the affidavit are true.

Number pages and annexures correctly:

Sequencing pages and annexures in affidavits is very important, as it helps to

structure complex (and often lengthy) information:

• the pages of the affidavit must be sequenced numerically, i.e., page 1, page 2,

page 3. Do not include annexures in this sequence.

• the pages of each individual annexure must be numbered numerically.



• annexures must be sequenced alphabetically, i.e., Annexure A, Annexure B,

Annexure C. If there are more than 26 annexures, the 27 th will be Annexure AA, and

the 28th will be Annexure AB.

Annexures:

When referencing an annexure in the body of an affidavit write:

“Annexed and marked “A” is a copy of…….”

Annexures must then be summarised, so the reader of the affidavit gets an

understanding of the results before reading the full annexure.

Each annexure attached must have the following introduction:

“This page and the following _ page/s comprise/s of the document referred to as Annexure _ in the affidavit of [insert deponent’s name] sworn/affirmed at

[insert place] on [insert date] before me [witness to sign and provide name

and qualification]”.

You must number the pages of an affidavit numerically from 1 to the end. The

annexure is numbered separately.

For more information about affidavits see the affidavits: the basics factsheet.

Below is a fictional example (from a Funded Service Provider).



IN THE CHILDREN’S COURT

OF NEW SOUTH WALES

AT SMARTVILLE

CASE NUMBER 2019/000111

Affidavit Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998

Child

Name Pearl Anna Oswald

23 May 2010

Application details

Type of application Care Application

Date application filed 28 March 2019

Affidavit

Name Sharon Porter

Address Short Street, Smartville NSW, 7777

Date affirmed 29 June 2019

I affirm:

1. I am employed as a family worker at Alternative Care (‘AC’) in Smartville. I have been

employed as a family worker since 18 July 2018.

2. I hold a Diploma of Community Services from Ballina TAFE.



3. Since 30 April 2019, I have had the day to day responsibility for the casework in

relation to Pearl Anna Oswald born 23 May 2010 (“Pearl”). My Manager is Jane Smith

(“Ms Smith”).

4. Case management responsibility for Pearl was transferred from Department of

Communities and Justice (“DCJ”) to AC on 28 April 2019.

5. I have access to the AC records relating to Pearl. I have read those records.

Information referred to in this affidavit that is not known to me personally is contained

in those records.

6. All information referred to in this affidavit is true and correct to the best of my

knowledge.

Family Relationships

7. Sheree Oswald born 3 December 1987 (“Ms Oswald”) is Pearl’s mother.

8. Blake King born 6 January 1980 (“Mr King”) is Pearl’s father.

9. Tiara McNee (“Tiara”) is Pearl’s paternal half sibling. Tiara is married to Elvis McNee

(‘Elvis’). Tiara and Elvis have a child, Alex, who is aged 9 years. Tiara and Elvis are

Peal’s carers.

Current proceedings



10. On 2 April 2019, an interim order was made by Smartville Children’s Court allocating

all aspects of parental responsibility for Pearl to the Minister for DCJ until further

order.

11. On 30 April 2019, a finding was made by Smartville Children’s Court that Pearl is in

need of care and protection.

Pearl’s placement

12. Pearl was placed with Tiara and Elvis McNee on 25 March 2019. She has lived with

them since.

13. Tiara and Elvis were fully authorised to be Pearl’s carers on 15 May 2019. They are

willing to provide long term care for Pearl if this is required.

14. I have undertaken five home visits to Pearl in her placement with Tiara and Elvis. On

average I have spent an hour each visit, talking to Pearl and her carers. On each

occasion, being 29 April 2019, 18 May 2019, 25 May 2019, 8 June 2019 and 28 June 2019,

I have observed Pearl as being happy and content with Tiara and Elvis. My

observations of the interaction between Pearl, Tiara, Elvis and Alex, suggest that Pearl

has quickly developed a close and loving relationship with the family.

Annexed and marked “A” is a copy of the home visit records.

Pearl’s health and education



15. On entering Out of Home Care, Pearl was referred for an Out of Home Care Health

Pathways assessment. She was determined to be in generally good health but needs

extensive dental work. She has since attended an initial appointment with her dentist

for urgent fillings and has more appointments scheduled in the next three months for

less urgent work.

16. Since moving to her placement with Tiara and Elvis, Pearl has been attending

Smartville Primary School, the same school which Alex attends. On 28 June 2019, I had

a telephone conversation with Mr Arnold, Pearl’s teacher, who said to me words to the

following effect: Pearl has settled in really well and despite being a little below what

we would expect when she started is now generally in the mid-range of achievement.

She gets on well with the other students and appears to have made some close friends .

Contact arrangements

Since entering care in March 2019, a contact schedule was devised for Pearl to have

weekly contact visits with her mother. Pearl has contact with Ms Oswald on Tuesday

afternoon each week for about 2 hours. The contact is supervised by myself or

someone else employed by AC.

17. Since AC has had case management, there have been 20 scheduled contacts for Ms

Oswald and Pearl. Ms Oswald has attended 18 of these. The contact has been

positive. Ms Oswald and Pearl have a close and warm relationship and Ms Oswald is

able to engage with Pearl for extended periods and to attend to her needs during

the contact. Ms Oswald usually brings small gifts for Pearl and activities, such as

games and colouring books, which they can do together.

Annexed and marked “B” are copies of the contact records.



18. On 15 May 2019, Ms Oswald advised me that she was unwell and would be unable to

attend the contact on 16 May 2019. On 16 June 2019, Ms Oswald also missed contact

with Pearl. When she had not arrived at contact, I called her, and Ms Oswald advised

that she had missed the train from Sydney.

19. Mr King was in jail in Sydney. On 15 June 2019, the Local Court at Sydney made a

two-year AVO prohibiting contact between Mr King and Pearl. AC has accordingly

not made arrangements for contact between Pearl and Mr King.

20. Pearl has had contact with her paternal extended family on several occasions since

AC has had case management which has been arranged by her carers. This has

included contact with her paternal grandmother, her cousins and other Aunts and

Uncles.

Ms Oswald’s progress in meeting the objectives outlined in the Summary Proposed Plan

21. The Summary of Proposed Plan required that Ms Oswald:

(a) demonstrate through supervised drug screens her abstinence from unlawful drug

use;

(b) maintain engagement with services including but not limited to FACS, Helping

Hands Women’s DV Assistance, Drug & Alcohol and Smartville Neighbourhood

Centre; and

(c) not be involved in any incidents of domestic violence.

• Compliance with supervised drug screens



22. Since case management was transferred to AC 28 April 2019, Ms Oswald has been

participating in supervised random urinary drug screens (“UDS”). AC notifies Ms

Oswald by text message when she needs to attend UDS and she is to provide a

sample within 24 hours of receiving the text or contact AC if she is unable to attend.



23. The following table shows the requests for UDS that have been made, Ms Oswald’s

attendance and the result

UDS Request date Attendance date Result Additional Information

5 May 2019 Did not attend No explanation was

provided for non-

attendance.

16 May 2019 16 May 2019 Methamphetamine

detected

28 May 2019 28 May 2019 Methamphetamine

detected

1 June 2019 1 June 2019 Methamphetamine

detected

5 June 2019 5 June 2019 Clean


13 June 2019 Did not attend Explanation provided that in

Sydney for Court



Annexed and marked “C” are copies of the UDS results.



24. On 8 June 2019, I telephoned Ms Owald’s Drug and Alcohol counsellor, Jason

Murray, who advised that Ms Oswald was engaging in the Drug Recovery Program.

He said to me words to the following effect: Sheree has been working hard to abstain

from drug use. She is making progress and reports that she has not used meth for the

past two weeks. So far in the program we have focussed on understanding

dependency and on harm reduction. We are now focussing on relapse prevention. We

have six more weeks before the Program is completed.

• (b) Engagement with services

25. On 9 May 2019, I met with Ms Oswald and she advised me that she had begun a 6-

week DV course at Helping Hands and that she had also enrolled in a parenting

course with the Neighbourhood Centre. She told me that both courses started the

next week. Ms Oswald also told me that Mr King had been ringing her from jail and

she had reported that to the Police.

26. On 8 June 2019, I telephoned the Helping Hands DV service to enquire about Ms

Oswald’s progress. I spoke to the Coordinator who said to me words to the following

effect: “Ms Oswald signed up to do the course in early May and attended the first two

sessions, but we haven’t seen her since that time. I left a few messages on her phone

but she didn’t call back”.

27. On 8 June 2019, I telephoned the Neighbourhood Centre to enquire about Ms

Oswald’s progress in the parenting courses. The Coordinator said to me words to

the following effect: “Ms Oswald signed up to do the courses in early May and

attended the first two sessions, but we haven’t seen her since early June”.



28. As a result of this information, I attempted to contact Ms Oswald by telephone on 8

June 2019 and 14 June 2019. On each occasion I left a voice message when the call

went to message bank; and I also forwarded text messages asking her to call me

urgently. I did not receive any response.

29. On 17 June 2018, in company with Caseworker Robin Fox, I attended Ms Oswald’s

home and spoke to Ms Oswald. I asked why she had not been attending the courses

and she said to me words to the effect of: Everything has got on top of me. I’ve been

stressed about going to Court for the AVO with Blake. I’ve been trying to get clean and

stay clean. It’s just got too much.

30. I let Ms Oswald know that her last two UDS results were clean. I also acknowledged

that it would have been difficult and stressful for her to give evidence against Mr

King earlier that week. I did however confirm with Ms Oswald, that she needed to

attend and complete these courses so that we could continue to support a possible

restoration of Peal to her. Ms Oswald was visibly upset and was tearful throughout

the meeting. Ms Oswald agreed to re-commence attending the courses.

Annexed and marked “D” is a copy of my home visit record.

31. On 28 June 2019, I telephoned Helping Hands who confirmed that Ms Oswald has

attended on 22 June 2019. I also telephoned the Neighbourhood Centre who

advised that Ms Oswald had recommenced attendance on 18 June 2019 and had

attended two further sessions since that date.

(c) not be involved in any incidents of domestic violence.



32. On 15 June 2019, Ms Oswald gave evidence to the Local Court at Sydney in relation

to the family violence that she had experienced in relationship with Mr King and that

Pearl witnessed. The Local Court made a 2-year AVO order for her and Pearl’s

protection.

33. I also sought information from NSW Police under Chapter 16A about whether there

have been any further reports or complaints regarding domestic violence involving

Ms Oswald since Pearl entered care. On 27 June 2019, I was advised by NSW Police ,

that other than the reports that Ms Oswald made regarding the calls by Mr King while

he was in jail, there had been no further reported incidents.

Future Plans for the child

34. On 27 June 2018, I participated in a meeting involving my manager, Jane Smith, and

DCJ caseworker Mary Jones and her Manager Michael Matthews and casework

specialist Trudy Valentine. A decision was made to continue to support Pearl being

restored to Ms Oswald.

Annexed and marked “E” is a copy of the meeting record.

35. On 28 June 2019, I attended Ms Oswald’s home and told her that the decision had

been made to continue to support restoration of Pearl to her. I advised Ms Oswald

that she needed to keep working on keeping clean, on attending the Drug Recovery

Program and the parenting and domestic violence courses. I acknowledged the

progress she had already made and said that we needed to see this continue. Ms

Oswald said to me words to the following effect: I will do everything I can to have

Pearl live with me again. I hadn’t realised how bad things had gotten between me and

Blake or how bad it was for Peal to see that. I don’t want her to grow up thinking that

violence like that is OK. I’m trying to stay clean. It’s hard, but I know I need to keep

clean for myself and for Pearl.



Annexed and marked “F” is a copy of the record of my visit with Ms Oswald.

36. On 28 June 2019, I also attended Tiara and Elvis’ home to let them know that the

decision had been made to continue to support restoration between Pearl and Ms

Oswald. Tiara said that she and Elvis were willing to support restoration, but they

were concerned that Ms Oswald would not be able to keep things together and that

Pearl would end up being more traumatised and upset. I told Tiara and Elvis that a

restoration wouldn’t occur until Ms Oswald had been able to show that she had

made some longer-term changes and until the Court approved that as a plan for

Pearl. Tiara and Elvis said they wanted what was best for Pearl. They said if

restoration to Ms Oswald couldn’t proceed, they wanted to continue to care for

Pearl.

37. I also spoke to Pearl. Pearl told me that she loves living with Tiara and Elvis and

Alex. She said she feels safe and happy. She said she misses Ms Oswald and that

she looks forward to seeing her. She said to me words to the following effect: I miss

Mum and I love her. I want her to get better. I love Auntie Tiara and Uncle Elvis and

living here, but I love my Mum too.

Annexed and marked “G” is a copy of my home visit record.

Signature

Affirmed at

Signature of deponent

Date

Before me:

Name of witness



Capacity Justice of the Peace Other [please specify]

Registration number

I certify the following matters concerning the person who made this affidavit (the

deponent):

1. I saw the face of the deponent; or [delete whichever option if inapplicable]

I did not see the face of the deponent because the deponent was wearing a face covering but I am satisfied that the deponent had a special justification for not removing the covering.

2. I have known the deponent for at least 12 months; or [delete whichever option if

inapplicable]

I have confirmed the deponent’s identity using the following identification document:

Identification document

relied on

Signature

Date

[NOTE: The deponent and witness must sign each page of the Affidavit .

writing an affidavit: tips and an example · child, young person1 and family. however, there are...

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