Statutory declarations
A statutory declaration is a sworn or affirmed statement and is usually used where there are no court proceedings but some fact needs to be proved.
Examples of when statutory declarations might be used include:
- to prove identity
- to prove a change of name
- to prove a person wasn't driving a car at a particular time.
It is an offence to lie in a statutory declaration.
How to write a statutory declaration
The person making a statutory declaration is called the "declarant".
When you write a statutory declaration, you should include:
- your full name
- your address
- your occupation
- a statement that you "do solemnly and sincerely declare".
Once you have included these 'formal' parts, you should then write the facts that you want to declare are true. You should:
- put each of the facts into separate paragraphs
- put the paragraphs in date (chronological) order
- finish with a statement that you "make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Oaths Act 1900".
You should then make sure your statutory declaration is signed and witnessed as in the example below (but with your name and your witnesses' name instead).
For more information on what to put in a statutory declaration, see 
Checklist: Writing statutory declarations.
An example of a statutory declaration
Declaration under the Oaths Act 1900, New South Wales, Ninth Schedule
I, John Yardley Smith of 12 West Street, Westown NSW, fitter and turner, do hereby solemnly declare and affirm that:
1. My full name is John Yardley Smith.
2. My date of birth is 12 September 1975.
3. On 22 April 1979, my father, Yardley Elliot Smith, and my mother, Gwendolyn Carmela Smith, were divorced.
4. On 3 March 1985 my mother, Gwendolyn Carmela Smith married David St John Parker.
5. From 3 March 1985 I adopted the surname of my step-father and became known as John Yardley Parker.
6. On 4 June 1992 I applied for my NSW driver's licence in the name of John Yardley Parker. I was issued with a NSW driver's licence with the number 1000888.
7. In or about July of 2001, I began to use the name of John Yardley Smith again.
8. I am the John Yardley Parker named in the driver's licence issued in NSW with licence number 1000888, expiring on 18 October 2013.
And I make this solemn declaration, as to the matter (or matters) aforesaid, according to the law in this behalf made- and subject to the punishment by law provided for any wilfully false statement in any such declaration.
Declared at Sydney on 18 September 2011 [signature of declarant] John Smith
in the presence of an authorised witness, who states:
I, Barry Butt, a solicitor, certify the following matters concerning the making of this statutory declaration by the person who made it:[* please cross out any text that does not apply]
1. *I saw the face of the person OR
*I did not see the face of the person because the person was wearing a face covering, but I am satisfied that the person had a special justification for not removing the covering, and
2.
*I have known the person for at least 12 months OR *I have not known the person for at least 12 months, but I have confirmed the person's identity using an identification
document and the document I relied on was: [describe identification document relied on] a driver's licence.
Barry Butt [signature of authorised witness] 18 September 2011 [date] |
You can get blank Statutory Declaration Forms for NSW matters on the Department of Communities and Justice website. If you are making the declaration for a Commonwealth matter or Commonwealth Government department, Commonwealth statutory declaration forms are available at the
Commonwealth Attorney General's website.