The New Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia

The Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia recently merged and, as of 1 September 2021, the new Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (“the Court”) will deal with all family law matters.

The Court comprises of two divisions.

1. Division 1 (a continuation of the Family Court of Australia with 35 specialist family law Judges hearing both trials and appeals).
2. Division 2 (a continuation of the Federal Circuit of Australia with 76 Judges, 55 of whom are specialist in family law).

All family law matters will commence in Division 2, whilst Division 1 will primarily focus on determining appeals and complex family law matters.

The Court recognises in its new overarching purpose the harmful consequences of litigation for families and children and the new Court will strive to effectively case manage parties proceedings through the Court the most efficient and effective way possible.

The Court has streamlined its processes and procedures to provide a more cost effective and timely resolution of family law matters. Parties can now anticipate their matter first being listed within 8 weeks of the filing of any application. The Court will endeavour to have all matters listed for a final hearing within 12 months of filing.

The Court now places obligations on parties and their legal practitioners to identify the issues in dispute and make meaningful attempts at resolving or narrowing those issues in dispute.

Prior to commencing proceedings, parties are now required to take genuine steps to attempt to resolve all outstanding matters, unless it is unsafe to do so or a relevant exemption applies.  Parties are expected to engage in alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or negotiations, to resolve their disputes at an early stage and all parties will be required to inform the Court as to their efforts to participate in alternative dispute resolution.

The Court requires all parties to notify the other of their intention to commence the proceedings and again make a genuine offer to resolve the matter on a final basis without the Court’s assistance.

To assist with these changes and ensure that the new Court’s overarching purposes can be achieved, the Federal Government has provided increased funding to the Court. Several new judicial appointments have been made including 11 new Judges and 42 new Registrars Australia wide to assist with managing the Court’s backlog and implementing the new procedures.

If you would like advice about the new Court or require the assistance of one of our family lawyers, please contact our family law team on 03 9890 3321.