New Family Court

Court merger

On 1 September 2021, the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia will merge. The new Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia will have two divisions; one dealing exclusively with family law. Division 2 will deal with both family law and general federal law matters.

The new Court will have a new set of Rules, the Courts’ Central Practice Direction, and the new case management pathway in family law proceedings. The family law jurisdiction The Courts have been working diligently to build a system that is innovative, focuses on the safety of children and vulnerable litigants, and that changes the culture and conversation around family law.

From 1 September we will see a new structure that is modern, fair and focuses on risk, responsiveness and earlier resolution, by:

• Improving early risk identification and safety of children and vulnerable parties
• Encouraging smarter ways to separate with less acrimony, less cost and more dispute resolution, where it is safe to do so
• Expecting compliance with court orders
• Enhancing national access to justice for vulnerable parties and regional communities through the use of technology, and
• Aiming to resolve up to 90 per cent of cases within 12 months.

One set of Rules

Achieving a unified set of Rules and forms across the two Courts has been a key objective. The family law system has long been criticised as being confusing, inefficient and causing unacceptable delays. The creation of a single set of Rules, together with a single point of entry, additional resources, and case management reform, will go towards addressing those criticisms. The new system aims to provide a safer, quicker and less costly way of resolving family disputes.

A Central Practice Direction

The Central Practice Direction confirms the Core Principles applicable to family law proceedings and establishes a consistent national case management system.  It is expected to facilitate the safe, just and timely resolution of family law matters. It outlines an expected approach to family law litigation, designed to:

• Reduce unnecessary cost and delay in family litigation
• facilitates proceedings being conducted with the least possible acrimony in order to minimise harm to children and families;
• Ensure the safety of families and children;
• Achieve the overarching purpose of facilitating the just resolution of disputes according to law and as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible.

Consistent Case Management

Once proceedings are commenced, they will generally follow a nationally consistent case management pathway, which will generally go as follows:

1. First Court – Directions hearing before a Judicial Registrar.
   1. Timeframe: 8 weeks from filing.
   1. Purpose: To assess and triage the matter and make appropriate court orders to facilitate the timely disposition of the matter.
2. Interim Hearing
   1. Timeframe: At an appropriate time having regard to the urgency of the matter and the need to obtain appropriate evidence.
   1. Purpose: Determination of any interim applications brought by the parties.
3. Dispute Resolution
   1. Timeframe: Within 5 months from filing.
   1. Purpose: The new Court places significant emphasis on dispute resolution. This is designed to assist parties to resolve their cases and enable them to cease their engagement with the court system whenever this can be done safely.
4. Compliance and Readiness Hearing
   1. Timeframe: Following Dispute Resolution event, and no later than 6 months from filing.
   1. Purpose: If matters remain unresolved after Dispute Resolution the judicial officer presiding over this event, will check to see if parties have complied with court orders and directions to ensure that parties have made a genuine attempt to resolve issues. This hearing will be used to allocate a trial date.
5. Trial Management Hearing
   1. Timeframe: Prior to commencement of trial, if considered appropriate by trial Judge.
   1. Purpose: The making of any further orders and directions as considered necessary or appropriate by the trial Judge.
6. Trial – Final hearing
   1. Timeframe: 12 months from filing.
   1. Purpose: Determination of outstanding applications.

If you have a property of children family law matter you need assistance with, call our family lawyers in Mona Vale on 02 9151 7339 or Gosford on 02 4308 8892.