Checklist · Class Actions / Representative Proceedings
Opt-out notice distribution plan (Federal Court class action, GPN-CA Part 12)
Plan for how an opt-out notice will reach class members: plain-language content headings, the respondent's records, objections, and the Court's approval of the manner of distribution.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when preparing for the case management hearing that will set the timing and manner of the opt-out notice. The notice itself is a separate document and is approved by the Court before it is sent.
Used for these tasks
- Build the notice-distribution plan and the distribution record
- Draft class notices: opt-out, registration and settlement
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may draft the distribution table from the class definition and the known data sources. The lawyer writes the notice and decides the media.
AI may
- List likely class-member data sources already named in the file (share register, customer list, employment records)
- Turn paragraph 12.2 into a heading list for the lawyer's draft notice
- Record dates for conferral with the respondent about use of its records
AI must not
- Must not write the notice that will be filed or sent to class members
- Must not describe the claims, the defences or the funding terms
- Must not treat a plan as approved before the Court has approved the manner of distribution
The lawyer checks
- The notice, once drafted by the lawyer, is in plain language and covers consequences of staying in and of opting out, including the effect of a judgment or settlement on other proceedings
- The notice alerts class members to any costs agreement or funding agreement and its consequences
- Use of the respondent's records has been raised, and any objection has been conferred on before it is taken to the Court
- The manner and timing are put to the Court for approval. Sections 33X and 33Y are cited in the practice note and are opened before the orders are sought
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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More in Class Actions / Representative Proceedings
- First case management hearing: costs disclosure and readiness note (Federal Court class action)
- Opt-out notice, notice distribution plan and settlement-notice checklist (Federal Court class action)
- Retainer letter and conditional costs agreement for a representative applicant (Federal Court class action)
- Class-action litigation hold notice
- Competing class actions: comparison note for the carriage or selection hearing
- Litigation funding agreement and costs review checklist (including common fund orders and Victorian group costs orders)
- Pre-filing memo: Part IVA threshold requirements and class definition
- Rule 26(f) report for a putative class action
- Opt-out register against the Court's date and Form 21 (Federal Court class action)
- Settlement approval application checklist (Federal Court class action, s 33V and GPN-CA)
- Settlement distribution scheme (with safeguards for technology-assisted claims assessment)
- Stipulated protective order for class-member data
- Periodic update letter to group members (clients and registered group members)
- Letter to the respondent's lawyers about communications with class members
- Deposition outline: class representative and Rule 30(b)(6)
- Group costs order: comparison note before a Victorian s 33ZDA application
- Group member registration and intake protocol (including AI triage of registrations)
- Prompt template with guardrails: reconciling registrations to the class definition
All precedents for Class Actions / Representative Proceedings · Tasks and AI use in this area