Family Court of Australia

Corporate Plan 2018-2019

Background

The Family Court of Australia (FCoA) is a superior court of record established by Parliament in 1975 under Chapter III of the Constitution. The FCoA operates under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and through its specialist judges and staff, helps Australians to resolve their most complex family disputes.

The FCoA exercises appellate and trial level jurisdiction. At trial level, the Court deals with the most complex parenting and financial cases and hears cases arising under the regulations implementing the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction. It has a substantial appellate jurisdiction and hears appeals from decisions of single judges of the Court and from the Federal Circuit Court (FCC) in family law matters.

The Chief Justice is the head of jurisdiction and is responsible for managing the administrative affairs of the Court. The Chief Justice is assisted by the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Registrar who is appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Chief Justice.

The purpose of the FCoA as Australia's superior court in family law is to help Australians resolve their most complex family disputes by deciding matters according to the law, promptly, courteously and effectively.

The Court achieves this by:

• determining cases with the most complex law, facts and parties
• covering specialised areas in family law, and
• providing national coverage as the appellate court in family law matters.

Goals

The FCoA assists Australian families in the determination of the most complex family law disputes domestically and internationally, consistent with the rule of law and procedural fairness. The Court achieves this through effective judicial and non-judicial processes and high-quality judgments, while respecting the needs and sensitivities of separating families.

Performance measures

The key outcome measure for the Court is contained in Outcome Two of the Portfolio Budget Statements. That is, to apply and uphold the rule of law for litigants in the FCoA through the resolution of family law matters according to law, particularly more complex family law matters and through the effective management of the administrative affairs of the Court.

The FCoA maintains three goals related to timely completion of cases. Strategies and Priorities are designed to support the achievement of these performance goals. The Court's Annual Performance Statement will report on the success of the plan to achieve timely completion of cases.

This will be measured by the following:

1. clearance rate of 100 per cent
2. seventy-five per cent of judgments to be delivered within three months, and
3. seventy-five per cent of cases pending conclusion to be less than 12 months old.

NOTE: From 1 January 2019, subject to the passing of legislation, the FCoA and the FCC will amalgamate to become the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Updated performance criteria will be provided in the 2019–20 Corporate Plan.

1 Strategic Objective

Ensure best practices in judicial and non-judicial processes

The work of the FCoA is extremely demanding, with judges hearing the most complex and difficult family law matters involving allegations of family violence and/ or child abuse; questions of international family law (relating to the Hague 1980 Child Abduction Convention and/or 1996 Child Protection Convention); applications related to special medical procedures (such as stage two treatment for gender dysphoria in children); and complex property matters including those involving accrued jurisdiction and third parties.

Whilst the Government has been proactive in amending the Act to provide better protection and broaden the definition of family violence, the FCoA's ability to manage workloads in order to provide timely hearings and well informed outcomes requires considerable management attention in a very tight fiscal environment. Identification and allocation of resources to address these issues are a priority.

Strategies to address family violence issues are a priority for the FCoA. Family violence features in a significant proportion of matters filed. It is a complex issue which is further complicated by a range of scenarios:

1. The intersection of parenting orders made by the FCoA and family violence orders, including apprehended violence orders or intervention orders and criminal sanctions made in other jurisdictions.
2. The consequence of a victim of family violence having to be involved in private litigation with their former partner following an acrimonious separation, particularly if there has been a history of violence.
3. The need to make interim parenting orders which may have to last more than 12 months before a final hearing can be provided and where there are contentious issues about safety which cannot always be readily determined at an interim hearing.
4. The crucial need for adequate risk assessment at the earliest opportunity when an application has been filed.
5. Where the alleged perpetrator cannot afford a lawyer and is ineligible for legal aid, the need to manage cross-examination of the alleged victim sensitively whilst according procedural fairness to both parties.

Priorities - Ensure best practices in judicial and non-judicial processes

In 2018–19, the FCoA will progress the following projects:

2 Strategic Objective

Efficient and effective dispute resolution of complex family law matters

The strategy recognises that services need to be accessible and tailored to the needs of a diverse range of users. These may include unrepresented litigants, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and those who present with complex issues related to family violence, mental health and/or drug and alcohol issues. To this end, the FCoA will continue to focus on providing efficient and effective services to a broad range of litigants involved in complex family law disputes.

Priorities - Efficient and effective dispute resolution of complex family law matters

In 2018–19, the FCoA will progress the following projects:

Resourcing - Family Court of Australia

The table below illustrates the financial and staffing resources applied by the FCoA over the four years of this Plan.

Note: Departmental appropriation splits and totals are indicative estimates and may change in the course of the budget year as government Priorities change.

1. Estimated expenses incurred in relation to receipts retained under section 74 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
2. Expenses not requiring appropriation in the budget year are made up of liabilities assumed by other entities.
3. Excludes judges.