---
title: "Response to Initiating Application (Family Law): completion guide and filing checklist"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law/form-response-to-initiating-application"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a16-form-response-to-initiating-application"
area_id: "A16"
kind: "form"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-18"
---

# Response to Initiating Application (Family Law): completion guide and filing checklist

> Link to the Court's current Response to Initiating Application kit with a guide to the 28-day filing time, the documents that must go with it in parenting and financial cases, the fee, and where AI fits.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law/form-response-to-initiating-application  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-18

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Practice area: [Family Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, Commonwealth
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-18
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-18 against the official form at fcfcoa.gov.au and the 4 authorities it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.

## When to use it

Use when acting for a respondent served with an Initiating Application in the Federal Circuit and Family Court who opposes the orders sought or wants different orders. Not for Western Australian matters in the Family Court of Western Australia.

## How AI may be used

AI may help the lawyer check the response pack for completeness against the kit and draft the orders sought for the lawyer to settle; the lawyer checks every order and every factual statement, and sworn material stays lawyer-led.

**AI may:**

- Check the draft response and its accompanying documents against the kit checklist and list what is missing
- Compare the orders sought in the response with the applicant's orders and list points of agreement and difference
- Draft proposed orders from instructions the lawyer has confirmed, for the lawyer to settle
- Calculate the 28-day filing date from the date of service, for the lawyer to diarise

**AI must not:**

- Must not draft or fill in the supporting affidavit, the Financial Statement or the Notice of child abuse, family violence or risk
- Must not decide which orders to seek or whether to consent to any order
- Must not process the other party's documents in a tool that does not meet PD-AI para 5.5

**The lawyer checks:**

- Response filed within 28 days of service of the Initiating Application
- Every accompanying document the kit requires for the orders sought is filed and served with it
- Genuine Steps Certificate completed, or the exception relied on explained
- Section 60I certificate or exemption affidavit where the respondent seeks parenting orders the applicant did not
- Orders sought are within power and drafted so they can be made and enforced

## Authorities

- [Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (parenting orders, Part VII; property, s 79 and s 90SM)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00275/latest/text)
- [Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth), including r 5.04 (affidavit with interlocutory orders) and Schedule 1 (pre-action procedures)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2021L01197/latest/text)
- [Family Law (Fees) Regulations 2022 (Cth)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2023L00022/latest/text)
- [Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Practice Direction: Use of Artificial Intelligence (PD-AI), paras 4.7, 4.9 and 5.5](https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/pd/pd-ai)

## Official form

[Official form](https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/fl/forms/response-ia-kit)

## Where this comes from

The official form is published by fcfcoa.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-18.

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law/form-response-to-initiating-application and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*