Article Summary
A Queensland defence should answer each material factual allegation with an admission, denial, non-admission or positive matter. A denial or non-admission must carry a direct explanation; an inadequate response can be treated as an admission. A non-admission is available only after reasonable inquiries and restricts the evidence that the responding party may call about the fact.
The defence must also plead every material fact supporting each positive defence, identify any statutory provision relied on and specifically plead matters such as limitation, fraud, estoppel, payment, release, negligence and waiver.
A reply is different. It is usually needed only when the defence raises a new matter that makes the claim not maintainable, makes a transaction void or voidable, may take the plaintiff by surprise, or raises a new factual question.
A reply cannot repair an incomplete statement of claim or depart from it. Under r 164(2) UCPR, a reply must ordinarily be filed and served within 14 days after service of the defence.
If no reply is filed, allegations in the last pleading are generally treated as not admitted under r 168 UCPR when pleadings close.
How to draft a defence and reply at a glance
If you want to draft a defence and reply, this table should assist you quickly, at a glance:
| Task | Defence | Reply |
| Purpose | Define what is admitted, denied or not admitted, and plead every positive defence. | Answer genuinely new matter in the defence when the rules require a response. |
| Core method | Work through the statement of claim allegation by allegation, then plead the defendant’s own material facts. | Identify new matter, decide whether silence is safely dealt with by implied non-admission, and plead only what must be answered. |
| Main risk | A bare or evasive denial may be deemed an admission; a non-admission may prevent the party calling evidence on that fact. | An unnecessary reply creates avoidable issues; a missing necessary reply may leave the plaintiff unable to run the responsive case. |
| Timing | The time for a defence is governed by the originating process and applicable procedural steps. | Ordinarily 14 days after service of the defence or answer to counterclaim. |
What a defence is meant to do
If you want to draft a defence and reply, pleadings define the dispute and tell each party the case to be met. A defence therefore does more than announce that the claim is opposed. It narrows the plaintiff’s allegations into admitted facts, disputed facts and facts that the defendant cannot properly admit, then states any additional material facts needed to establish a positive answer to the claim. The broader framework is explained in Stonegate Legal’s guide to pleadings and particulars in Queensland.
The starting point is r 149(1)(a)-(c) UCPR. A pleading must be as brief as the case permits, contain the material facts relied on rather than the evidence proving them, and state specifically anything that might otherwise take the opponent by surprise. If the defence relies on an Act, r 149(1)(e) requires the particular statutory provision to be identified. A conclusion of law may be pleaded, but only with the supporting material facts: r 149(2).
That distinction between fact and proof controls the drafting. If a builder says defective work resulted from the principal supplying the wrong specification, the defence should plead the relevant contractual allocation, the specification supplied, how it differed from the agreed requirement and the causal consequence. It should not reproduce every email, witness conversation and photograph that may later prove those facts. Documents referred to in a pleading can also attract inspection rights; Stonegate Legal’s explanation of r 222 and documents referred to in pleadings deals with that separate consequence.
How to prepare before drafting the defence
Identify the legal elements and map the allegations
Read the statement of claim once for the narrative, then again as a pleading. For each cause of action, identify its essential elements and mark the paragraphs said to establish each one. This exposes three different tasks: answering the alleged material facts, identifying allegations that are merely evidence or commentary, and finding any missing element. Stonegate Legal’s guide to drafting and filing a statement of claim in Queensland is a useful companion because the same material-fact discipline governs both sides of the record.
Build an allegation schedule before writing prose. Record the client’s instructions, the documents checked, the proposed response and whether a positive fact must be pleaded. This is where apparent admissions often need to be split. A defendant may admit that a written contract was signed on a particular date, deny the plaintiff’s construction of clause 7, and plead a different contractual effect. Treating the entire paragraph as simply “denied” would conceal the real issue and may not satisfy the rules.
Complete reasonable inquiries
If you want to draft a defence and reply, a non-admission is not a drafting convenience. Under r 166(3)(a)-(c) UCPR, it may be pleaded only after reasonable inquiries, judged against the available time, leave the party uncertain whether the allegation is true or false. The inquiry should be recorded. Relevant steps may include speaking with the people involved, locating the contract file, checking accounts and reviewing contemporaneous correspondence.
The obligation continues. If later inquiries permit an admission or denial, r 166(6) requires the pleading to be amended appropriately. This makes a diary entry after filing worthwhile, particularly where a former employee, accountant, or third party holds the records.
How to draft each response in a defence
Rule 165(1) UCPR permits an admission, denial, non-admission or another matter in response to a pleading. The label chosen has procedural consequences.
| Response | When it is appropriate | Drafting consequence |
| Admission | The allegation is true and is not genuinely disputed. | Admit precisely what is accepted. If only part is true, identify that part and answer the balance. |
| Denial | The defendant has a proper basis for saying the allegation is untrue. | Give a direct explanation for that belief and plead any positive version relied on. |
| Non-admission | Reasonable inquiries have been made but the defendant remains uncertain. | Explain directly why the fact cannot be admitted. Continue inquiries and remember the restriction on calling evidence. |
| Another matter | The defendant relies on facts that answer, avoid or reduce the claim. | Plead the material facts constituting that positive case, with required particulars and statutory provisions. |
Admissions should be exact
An admission can shorten disclosure, evidence and trial time, but imprecision may admit more than intended. If paragraph 8 alleges that the parties signed a contract, that it contained a particular term and that the term had the plaintiff’s asserted legal effect, the defence should not admit paragraph 8 wholesale unless all three propositions are accepted. It may admit execution and the words of the term, but deny the alleged effect and explain the construction relied on.
A denial needs a direct explanation
Under r 166(4) UCPR, every denial of an allegation of fact must be accompanied by a direct explanation for the defendant’s belief that the allegation is untrue. If that requirement is not met, r 166(5) treats the allegation as admitted. “The defendant denies paragraph 12 because it is incorrect” merely repeats the label. It does not explain anything.
A useful response identifies the competing fact. For example: “The defendant denies paragraph 12. The defendant delivered the equipment on 4 March 2026, not 18 March 2026, as shown by the delivery docket signed on behalf of the plaintiff.” The delivery docket need not be reproduced, but the date and act of delivery expose the case the plaintiff must meet.
A non-admission is not a softer denial
A defendant who lacks knowledge of a transaction involving only the plaintiff and a third party may properly be unable to admit it after reasonable inquiries. The explanation should say why. For example: “The defendant does not admit paragraph 19. The alleged conversation was between the plaintiff and Ms Lee; the defendant was not present, has made reasonable inquiries and has not obtained a reliable account of it.” Whether that form is sufficient always depends on the actual allegation and inquiries.
The distinction matters because r 165(2) UCPR provides that a party pleading a non-admission may not give or call evidence about the fact not admitted unless that evidence relates to another part of its pleading. The defendant should not plead non-admission where it intends to advance affirmative evidence that the allegation is false. Unreasonable denials and non-admissions can also attract the additional costs caused by them under r 167.
Case example one: an evasive non-admission
If you want to draft a defence and reply, Barker v Linklater [2007] QCA 363 concerned a non-admission expressed on the basis that the defendants were unable to attest to the truth or otherwise of matters likely to be peculiarly within the opposing party’s knowledge. At [50], the Court of Appeal treated the words in the context of the requirements for reasonable and continuing inquiries. The decision does not make a stock phrase universally safe. It shows why the response must be read against the nature of the allegation, the parties’ means of knowledge and the inquiries the rule requires.
Plead the defendant’s positive case
Paragraph-by-paragraph responses are only half the task. A defence must state the material facts supporting any affirmative ground on which the defendant says the claim fails, is reduced or cannot be maintained. Rule 150(1) UCPR contains a non-exhaustive list of matters requiring specific pleading, including limitation, duress, estoppel, fraud, illegality, misrepresentation, knowledge, negligence, contributory negligence, payment, performance, release, waiver and want of capacity. Any facts from which one of those matters is to be inferred must also be specifically pleaded under r 150(2).
Suppose a lender sues for an unpaid balance and the defendant says the debt was discharged by a settlement agreement. It is not enough to deny that the balance is due. The defence should plead the settlement’s material terms, the parties’ agreement, the performance relied on and the resulting release or discharge. If a limitation defence is relied on, the defence must identify it and the relevant provision of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974. The dates that engage the defence need to be pleaded as material facts.
A defence or later pleading must also specifically plead a matter said to make the opponent’s case not maintainable, show a transaction is void or voidable, avoid surprise, or raise a factual question not arising from an earlier pleading: r 150(4)(a)-(d). These are not decorative particulars. They determine the case that may be advanced at trial.
Alternative defences must be genuinely alternative
If you want to draft a defence and reply, inconsistent allegations or claims may be pleaded as alternatives under r 154(1) UCPR. The drafting should make the fork clear. A defendant might deny that any contract was formed and plead, alternatively, that if a contract existed it was discharged by performance. What the defendant cannot properly do is plead two factual versions in circumstances where one must be known to be false. A later pleading also cannot depart from an earlier pleading without amendment: r 154(2).
Case example two: too much material can obscure the defence
If you want to draft a defence and reply, Fuller v Toms [2010] QCA 283 at [18]-[19] is a practical warning against confusing volume with completeness. The proposed amended defence and counterclaim was criticised as repetitious, burdened by argument and references to evidence, and substantially deficient. The Court of Appeal confirmed that succinct and comprehensible pleading is not an empty technicality. Its procedural function is to define the real issues early and permit fair, efficient disposition of the proceeding. A pleading exposed to similar criticism may be refused or struck out; Stonegate Legal’s guide to striking out pleadings and particulars in Queensland explains that process.
Formal requirements when drafting a defence
A defence must comply with r 146(1) UCPR. It must identify the proceeding and pleading, be filed and dated, be signed by the solicitor or self-represented party, carry consecutive page numbers, and use consecutively numbered paragraphs and any necessary subparagraphs. So far as practicable, each paragraph should contain a separate allegation. Counsel who settles the pleading must be named. A defence should use approved Form 17 and include the notice required by r 146(2) about the time for a responsive pleading.
The document should also state the effect of spoken words or documents briefly unless the precise language is material: r 152 UCPR. If the defence denies performance or occurrence of a condition precedent, the denial must be specifically pleaded under r 153(2). These checks belong at the end of drafting, after the legal and factual structure is sound.
How to draft a reply
First decide whether a reply is needed
A plaintiff does not usually need a reply simply to deny the denials in a defence. Under r 168(1) UCPR, every allegation of fact in the last pleading before pleadings close is taken to be the subject of a non-admission, with the evidentiary consequence in r 165(2). The question is whether the defence has introduced new matter that requires a pleaded answer.
A reply is ordinarily required where the plaintiff relies on responsive facts falling within r 150(4) UCPR: facts said to make the defence not maintainable, show a transaction is void or voidable, avoid surprise, or raise a new factual question. The textbook’s example is a defence to a contractual claim that alleges illegality, duress or fraud. If the plaintiff relies on facts that answer that new case, those facts will often need to appear in a reply.
By contrast, if the statement of claim pleads that the contract has meaning X and the defence says it has meaning Y, a reply merely repeating X is unnecessary. Melco Engineering Pty Ltd v Eriez Magnetics Pty Ltd [2007] QSC 198 at [17]-[18] illustrates that point. The plaintiff’s existing case remains in the statement of claim.
A reply cannot repair the statement of claim
The reply must be consistent with the statement of claim. Rule 154(2) prevents a party from making an allegation or new claim inconsistent with its earlier pleading without amending the earlier pleading. If the defence exposes a missing element in the claim, the correct course is not to smuggle that element into the reply. The statement of claim should be amended, subject to the applicable procedural requirements.
Reply only to the new matter
A disciplined reply identifies the paragraph of the defence raising the new matter, responds directly, and pleads the material facts supporting the answer. It should not reproduce the statement of claim, traverse every denial or argue the evidence.
If you want to draft a defence and reply, for example, assume a contractor claims an unpaid progress payment. The defence pleads a release signed at project completion. The plaintiff says the release was procured by a particular misrepresentation and is voidable. A reply should plead the representation, who made it, when and where it was made, its alleged falsity, reliance, and the facts said to justify avoidance. A bare assertion that “the release is invalid” states a conclusion without the material facts needed to support it.
Time for filing a reply and close of pleadings
Unless the court orders otherwise, r 164(2) UCPR requires a reply to be filed and served within 14 days after service of the defence or answer to counterclaim. An answer to counterclaim is ordinarily due within 14 days after service of the counterclaim, or 28 days if the defendant to the counterclaim is not a party to the original proceeding: r 164(1)(a)-(b).
Under r 169(a)-(b), pleadings close on service of a pleading served after the defence or answer to counterclaim; otherwise they close 14 days after service of the defence. Filing an unnecessary reply therefore has a procedural effect and adds paper.
Missing the proper response period may also engage default procedures. Stonegate Legal’s guide to default judgment where no defence has been filed explains the position where a defendant does not defend, although the exact consequence depends on the type of claim and the procedural default.
A practical defence and reply drafting checklist
If you want to draft a defence and reply, the following checklist will assist you:
- Identify every cause of action and the material facts said to establish it.
- Answer each material factual allegation precisely; split compound allegations where necessary.
- Use a denial only with a direct explanation of why the allegation is believed to be untrue.
- Use a non-admission only after reasonable inquiries, record those inquiries and continue them.
- Check whether a non-admission would prevent the defendant from calling evidence about the fact.
- Plead every material fact supporting each positive defence and identify statutory provisions relied on.
- Review the specific matters in r 150, including the inference facts required by r 150(2).
- Separate alternative defences clearly and avoid factual alternatives known to be false.
- Keep evidence, submissions, correspondence history and rhetoric out of the pleading unless a rule makes a particular fact necessary.
- For a reply, isolate new matter in the defence and plead only the facts needed to answer it.
- Amend the statement of claim instead of using the reply to introduce an inconsistent or incomplete case.
- Check Form 17, signatures, paragraph numbering, page numbering, notices, filing and service dates.
Documents and evidence after the pleadings
Draft the pleading with the later conduct of the case in mind, but it is not the evidence. Once the issues are defined, the parties’ document obligations and evidentiary preparation operate separately. Stonegate Legal’s guide to disclosure of evidence in Queensland explains the disclosure stage. The defence and reply should make that stage more focused by identifying the real disputes, not attempt to perform it prematurely.
Frequently Asked Questions About Drafting a Defence and Reply
What is a defence in Queensland civil litigation?
A defence is the pleading in which a defendant responds to the material factual allegations made in the statement of claim. The defendant may admit, deny or not admit an allegation, or plead other facts that answer or reduce the claim. A defence must also set out the material facts supporting any positive defence on which the defendant intends to rely.
What should be included in a defence?
A defence should:
- respond precisely to each material factual allegation;
- provide a direct explanation for every denial or non-admission;
- plead the material facts supporting each positive defence;
- specifically plead matters such as limitation, payment, release, estoppel, fraud, illegality, contributory negligence or waiver where relevant;
- identify any statutory provision relied on; and
- comply with the formal requirements of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld).
The defence should plead material facts, not submissions or all the evidence that may later prove those facts.
Can a defendant simply deny every allegation?
No. Under r 166(4) of the UCPR, a denial of an allegation of fact must be accompanied by a direct explanation of why the defendant believes the allegation is untrue. A bare response such as “the defendant denies paragraph 12 because it is incorrect” will generally not provide the required explanation. If a denial does not comply with the rule, the allegation may be treated as admitted.
What is the difference between a denial and a non-admission?
A denial means the defendant has a proper basis for asserting that the allegation is untrue. A non-admission means the defendant has made reasonable inquiries but remains unable to determine whether the allegation is true or false.
The distinction has an evidentiary consequence. Under r 165(2) of the UCPR, a party pleading a non-admission generally may not give or call evidence about the fact not admitted unless the evidence relates to another part of the party’s pleading.
When can a defendant plead a non-admission?
A defendant may plead a non-admission only if reasonable inquiries have been made, having regard to the time available for filing and serving the defence, and the defendant remains uncertain about the truth of the allegation.
The obligation does not end when the defence is filed. If further inquiries later allow the defendant to admit or deny the allegation, r 166(6) requires the pleading to be amended appropriately.
What positive defences must be specifically pleaded?
Rule 150 of the UCPR identifies matters that must be specifically pleaded. These include limitation, duress, estoppel, fraud, illegality, misrepresentation, knowledge, negligence, contributory negligence, payment, performance, release, waiver and want of capacity.
The defendant must ordinarily plead both the defence itself and the material facts supporting it. If the defendant alleges knowledge, fraud or another matter by inference, the facts from which that inference is to be drawn must also be pleaded.
Can inconsistent defences be pleaded?
Inconsistent allegations or defences may be pleaded if they are clearly expressed as alternatives. For example, a defendant may deny that a contract was formed and plead, alternatively, that any contract that existed was discharged by performance.
A party should not plead alternative factual versions where one version must be known to be false. A later pleading also cannot depart from an earlier pleading without amending the earlier pleading.
Does a plaintiff always need to file a reply?
No. A reply is not ordinarily required merely because the plaintiff disagrees with the denials contained in the defence. Allegations made in the last pleading before pleadings close are generally treated as not admitted under r 168 of the UCPR.
A reply is usually required where the defence raises new matter and the plaintiff relies on additional facts to answer it. This may occur where the defence pleads limitation, illegality, fraud, duress, release or another matter that was not raised in the statement of claim.
Can a reply add a missing part of the plaintiff’s claim?
A reply should not be used to repair an incomplete statement of claim or introduce a case inconsistent with it. Rule 154(2) prevents a party from making an allegation or new claim inconsistent with an earlier pleading without amending that pleading.
If the defence exposes a missing material fact or cause of action, the appropriate course is generally to amend the statement of claim rather than place the new case in the reply.
How long does a plaintiff have to file a reply in Queensland?
Unless the court orders otherwise, a reply must be filed and served within 14 days after service of the defence or answer to counterclaim under r 164(2) of the UCPR.
If no pleading is served after the defence or answer to counterclaim, pleadings ordinarily close 14 days after service of the defence. If a proper later pleading is served, pleadings close when that pleading is served.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
