Statutory Declarations and Affidavits

Overview

Throughout the course of employment an employee may be required to provide, or may be requested to witness, a statutory declaration or an affidavit.

Refer to the Policy and Guidelines tab for more information about statutory declarations and affidavits.

Related policies

• Certification of Documents
• Personal Leave — Teaching Service
• School Jobs Vic

Relevant legislation

• Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 (Vic)

Contact information

• Contact HR

Policy and Guidelines

Statutory declarations

For the purposes of this policy, a statutory declaration must be made in writing using the prescribed form. This can be accessed from the Department of Justice and Community Safety's statutory declarations page.

A Victorian statutory declaration is considered to be in the prescribed form however statutory declarations from other States and the Commonwealth are not. Therefore, only Victorian statutory declarations can be accepted in schools.

A person signs and declares the contents of a statutory declaration to be true and correct before an authorised witness. By signing it, the person agrees that the information is true, and the person can be charged with a criminal offence if the information is false.

Within the department, statutory declarations are used for a number of purposes, including on commencement of employment, and to support applications for personal leave.

The person making the statutory declaration must confirm the truth of the statement in the presence of the authorised statutory declaration witness in accordance with the prescribed requirements.

The Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 provides that statutory declarations may only be witnessed by certain categories of persons. A list of the prescribed categories of witnesses is set out on the Department of Justice and Community Safety website (refer to the Resources tab).

Within the Teaching Service, a school principal or a teacher employed on an ongoing basis at a school may witness a statutory declaration. There are also specific Guidelines for Authorised Witnesses on how to appropriately witness a statutory declaration (refer to the Resources tab).

Affidavits

An affidavit is a written statement that is confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the person making it before a person authorised to take an affidavit. Affidavits are used in court proceedings and for other purposes authorised by law. There is no single prescribed form for an affidavit however the Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 specifies the basic contents and requirements. Each court and tribunal has special rules about the format of an affidavit, so it is important to check the format of a required affidavit with the relevant court or tribunal.

The list of authorised affidavit takers, and guidelines available for authorised affidavit takers are available on the Department of Justice and Community website (refer to the Resources tab).

Resources

• Statutory Declarations — Department of Justice and Community Safety
• Affidavits — Department of Justice and Community Safety