Enforcement Hearing Queensland — Form 70 Summons Explained

An enforcement hearing lets you sit across from the debtor in a courtroom and require them to answer, under oath, questions about their income, bank accounts, and assets. If they have been ignoring your calls and letters since the QCAT order, this is the mechanism that compels disclosure.

When to Apply for an Enforcement Hearing

The standard sequence is to serve a Form 71 (Statement of Financial Position) first. The debtor must complete it within 14 days of receiving it, listing their employment, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, and debts. It costs nothing to serve.

If the debtor ignores the Form 71, returns it incomplete, or you suspect the answers are dishonest, that is when you apply for an enforcement hearing.

The Application Package

You need three documents:

1. Form 9 — the application
2. Form 70 — the enforcement hearing summons
3. Form 46 — an affidavit in support of the application
4. Form 71 — a blank copy or link to the online form, to serve with the summons

There is no court filing fee. The Form 46 must be sworn no more than two business days before filing in person or five business days before posting. The court registrar issues the Form 70 summons with a date for the debtor to appear.

Serving the Summons

The Form 70 must be served at least 14 days before the hearing date. It can be served by prepaid ordinary post or personally. A bailiff's service fee is $141.70 per person, plus $4.50 for each kilometre or part of a kilometre necessarily travelled one way beyond 8 km from the registry; private process servers set their own fees.

If the debtor must attend court outside their district, the Form 46 must offer conduct money to cover their reasonable travel costs.

What Happens at the Hearing

The debtor appears before a magistrate or registrar and is examined under oath. You (or the court) can ask them about:

• Employment and income, including pay slips
• Bank account balances and account numbers
• Real estate ownership and mortgage details
• Vehicles, equipment, and other personal property
• Debts owed to them by third parties
• Centrelink or other government benefits

The debtor may be required to produce documents — tax returns, bank statements, pay slips — that verify their answers.

If the Debtor Does Not Attend

A properly served debtor who fails to attend without lawful excuse faces serious consequences. The magistrate may issue a warrant for the debtor's arrest or initiate contempt proceedings.

What You Do With the Information

The whole point of the hearing is to identify which enforcement warrant will actually produce money. After the hearing, you will know:

• Whether the debtor is employed (points to a Form 78 earnings redirection)
• Whether they have money in a bank account (points to Form 76 or 77)
• Whether they own property or vehicles with equity (points to Form 75 seizure and sale)
• Whether they genuinely have nothing (points to an instalment order or, for debts of $10,000+, a Bankruptcy Notice)

Our Queensland QCAT Order Enforcement Guide walks through each enforcement hearing step with a preparation checklist, the questions to ask, and a decision framework for choosing the right warrant based on what you learn.

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