> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.rytz.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bundles for court

> Curate a subset of evidence for a specific filing or hearing — affidavit annexures, FDR disclosure bundles, court-book exhibits — properly paginated, indexed, and labelled.

import { Steps, Step, Frame, Note, Tip, Warning, CardGroup, Card, Check } from '@mintlify/components'

A **Bundle** is a curated subset of evidence prepared for a specific use — annexures to a particular affidavit, the disclosure pack you're taking to FDR, the court book for a final hearing. The Portfolio handles the curation, the pagination, the index, and the export to a single court-ready PDF.

## When you'd create a bundle

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Affidavit annexures" icon="paperclip">
    Each affidavit you file references specific evidence items as annexures (JL-1, JL-2, ...). The bundle holds those items, in citation order, with the right labels.
  </Card>

  <Card title="FDR / conciliation disclosure" icon="handshake">
    The material you bring to mediation. Often a condensed selection from across the matter — financial detail, parenting-relevant evidence, communications timeline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Court book / hearing bundle" icon="book">
    The full evidence stack tendered or referenced at hearing. Indexed, paginated, and exchanged with the other party in advance.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lawyer briefing pack" icon="briefcase">
    What you send your solicitor before a consultation so they can prepare. Often a chronology pack + a curated 20–30 most-relevant items.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Creating a bundle

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Bundles surface">
    From the Evidence Portfolio, click the **Bundles** tab in the top navigation. You'll see existing bundles (if any) and a **New bundle** button.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click 'New bundle' and pick a type">
    Five built-in types: **Affidavit annexures** · **FDR disclosure** · **Court book** · **Lawyer briefing pack** · **Custom**. The type sets the default cover page, index format, and labelling convention. Custom gives you a blank slate.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name and date the bundle">
    Naming conventions that work: `Affidavit Welsh 14-Mar-2026 — Annexures` for annexure bundles; `FDR Disclosure 22-Apr-2026` for FDR; `Court Book — Final Hearing 12-Sep-2026` for hearing bundles. The date is the bundle's reference date (the hearing date, FDR date, or affidavit date), not the date you create it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add items">
    Two paths:

    **Manual** — search or filter the Portfolio, drag items into the bundle.

    **One-click stage** — for stage-aligned bundles, click "Include all evidence assigned to interim-hearing stage" (or similar) and the bundle pre-populates from your [Stage Review](/evidence/stage-review) decisions.

    Items can sit in multiple bundles simultaneously without duplication.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Order the items">
    Drag-and-drop in the bundle editor sets order. The platform suggests an order based on the bundle type:

    * Affidavit annexures: the order they're referenced in the affidavit
    * FDR disclosure: chronological
    * Court book: by topic, then chronological within each topic

    Click "Auto-order chronologically" to bulk-order by item date.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set labels">
    For affidavit annexures, the platform auto-assigns labels (JL-1, JL-2, ...) using the deponent's initials in the order set above. Override any label by clicking it.

    For court book / FDR bundles, items are typically numbered (1, 2, 3, ...) rather than letter-labelled.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate the bundle PDF">
    Click **Generate**. The platform produces:

    * A cover page with the bundle name, deponent (for affidavit annexures), and reference date
    * An index listing every item with its label, brief description, source, and page number
    * The items themselves, paginated continuously, with each item starting on a new page
    * Each item preceded by a label divider page (for affidavit-annexure bundles)
    * A footer on every page showing the bundle name + page X of Y

    The output is a single PDF you can email, file, or print.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Share or file">
    For court filing, the bundle PDF is what you upload to the Commonwealth Courts Portal alongside your affidavit. For FDR or lawyer briefings, you email the PDF (or a downloadable link).

    For court book preparation, the bundle PDF is what you exchange with the other party under the Family Law Rules' service obligations.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Affidavit annexures specifically

The most-common bundle type. A few conventions worth getting right:

* **Labels follow the deponent's initials.** If the affidavit is yours and your name is Jacob Welsh, annexures are JL-1, JL-2, ... If the affidavit is your ex's, the labelling is theirs (LP-1, LP-2, ... for Lucy Pollock).
* **Each annexure starts on a new page.** Even a one-line text screenshot gets its own page. The Portfolio handles this automatically.
* **The annexure label appears at the top of the first page** of each item, plus a divider page immediately before. Both are auto-generated.
* **Reference order matches the affidavit.** If your affidavit refers to "JL-1 (the school report dated ...)" before "JL-2 (the message exchange of ...)", the bundle has them in that order.
* **The deponent signs each annexure.** For paper filing this means a signature on each item; for digital filing the deponent's digital signature on the cover page typically suffices.

<Warning>
  The Family Law Rules require annexures to be the original document or a true copy. Photographs of screens (a phone showing a text message) can be accepted but the deponent must attest in the affidavit body that the photograph is a true representation. The Portfolio's source-classification ("Mine — captured 14-Mar-2026 by photographing my phone") supports this attestation but doesn't substitute for it.
</Warning>

## FDR disclosure bundles

FDR (Family Dispute Resolution) is governed by section 60I of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and is required (with limited exceptions) before filing most parenting applications. The disclosure bundle for FDR is less formally regulated than a court bundle but several conventions improve outcomes:

* **Mirror what the other party will receive.** Both parties typically agree to disclose to the same standard.
* **Cover the full picture, not just your strong points.** The mediator forms a view on credibility partly from disclosure quality. Selective disclosure reads as defensive.
* **Include a cover letter or chronology** alongside the bundle. The platform's [Master Case File chronology export](/master-case-file/refresh-and-export) is well-suited.
* **Don't include privileged material** — your own legal advice, communications with your lawyer, draft documents from your lawyer. The Portfolio's privacy classification helps you keep these out.

## Court book conventions

For final hearings or interim hearings of substance, the FCFCOA expects a **court book** — a structured volume of all evidence either party will reference.

Court book conventions (from the Family Law Rules and FCFCOA practice direction):

* **Continuously paginated** across the full bundle (page 1 to page N), not per-item
* **Indexed** with each item, the page range, the source party, and the date
* **Tabbed** (with PDF bookmarks for digital filing)
* **Exchanged with the other party** in advance per the timing in the court's directions
* **Not duplicating** evidence already on the court file unless the directions require it

The Portfolio's court-book bundle type produces all of this.

## Updating a bundle

Bundles are not frozen. You can:

* Add or remove items
* Reorder
* Re-label
* Regenerate the PDF (a new version is created; old versions remain available under the bundle's history)

For affidavit annexures specifically, do not regenerate after the affidavit is filed — the labels and order are now part of a filed document. Create a new bundle for any subsequent affidavit.

## Bundle hygiene

A few practices worth keeping:

| Practice                                              | Why it matters                                                                 |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Name bundles consistently                             | Easier to find six months later when you're cross-referencing                  |
| Date the bundle                                       | Matches the bundle to the moment in the matter it relates to                   |
| Don't share unfinished bundles                        | Once shared, you've put a version in someone's inbox; they'll quote it back    |
| Keep the source items in the Portfolio after bundling | The bundle is a snapshot; the Portfolio is the living vault                    |
| Save final-version PDFs to a separate "Filed" tag     | So you don't accidentally edit a bundle whose PDF is already on the court file |

## What's next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Prepare an affidavit" icon="pen" href="/affidavits/overview">
    Affidavit drafting tools work hand-in-hand with bundle creation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Court Readiness Matrix" icon="grid-2" href="/evidence/court-readiness-matrix">
    Use the matrix to identify the right moment to bundle each stage.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Case Roadmap" icon="map" href="/case-roadmap/overview">
    Each stage of the FCFCOA process has typical bundles associated with it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Privacy and data" icon="lock" href="/account/privacy-and-data">
    How bundle PDFs are stored, shared, and protected.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>