Adjudication explained — process, cost and timeframes

Adjudication is the engine room of security of payment: a statutory decision on who holds the money, made in weeks, without going near a courtroom. It is often summarised as "pay now, argue later" — the adjudicator does not finally decide who is right, only who holds the money while the argument continues. Here is how it actually runs.

When you can apply

In the claim-based jurisdictions, adjudication becomes available in three situations, each with its own window:

1. A payment schedule was served for less than you claimed — you dispute the scheduled amount.
2. A schedule was served but the scheduled amount was not paid by the due date.
3. No schedule was served at all.

The windows differ by state and by scenario — from 5 business days in one Victorian scenario to 30 in Queensland — and the full grid is in our deadlines comparison table. Two points bear repeating: Queensland's main window is 30 business days, not the widely-repeated 10; and in the no-schedule scenario, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, WA, Tasmania and the ACT require a notice of intention first, giving the respondent a final 5 business days to schedule. Skipping that notice invalidates the application.

The Northern Territory runs a different model entirely: a payment dispute arises when a claim is rejected, disputed or unpaid at the due date (s8), and adjudication must be applied for within 65 working days of the dispute arising (s28(1)) — with working days excluding 25 December to 7 January.

How the process runs

1. Application. You apply in writing within the window, attaching the claim, the schedule (if any), and your submissions.
2. Appointment. An adjudicator — typically an industry professional accredited for the role — is appointed and accepts.
3. Response. The respondent puts on its response. In the claim-based states, a respondent who never served a payment schedule has generally forfeited the right to raise reasons at this stage — and even a respondent who did is confined to the reasons the schedule gave.
4. Determination. The adjudicator decides the amount payable (if any), the due date and interest, on the papers in most cases.
5. Payment or enforcement. If the respondent does not pay a determined amount, the claimant can have the determination converted into a judgment debt and enforce it like any court judgment.

What it costs

Adjudication is not free, but it is cheap against litigation. The adjudicator's fees are typically borne as the adjudicator directs — commonly shared, or against the losing party — and each side carries its own preparation. For a documented claim, preparation is measured in days of effort, not months.

What adjudication does not do

• It does not finally resolve the contract. A determination is binding and enforceable, but either party can still litigate or arbitrate the underlying rights. In practice few do — once the money moves, the appetite for a second fight usually evaporates.
• It does not guarantee recovery. A determination against an insolvent respondent is a piece of paper. Speed is the point: adjudicate early, while there is still money to recover.
• It is not appealable on the merits. Limited review exists — WA has an adjudication review mechanism (Division 3 of its Act); Victoria's was repealed by the 2025 reforms — and beyond that, challenges are confined to jurisdictional grounds.

Using it well

The parties who win adjudications are rarely the ones with the best barristers — they are the ones with the best paper: claims served properly, schedules answered on time, records of what was done and when, and deadlines diarised in the right state's business days. The scheme rewards administrative discipline, which is exactly the leverage it was designed to hand the party doing the work.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Verified against the consolidated legislation in August 2026; the windows are short enough that delay in getting advice can itself end a claim.

Published 28 September 2026