Program 3.1: FCFCOA (Division 2)

The FCFCOA (Division 2) was established as the Federal Magistrates Court in 2000, and later became the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. In 2021, pursuant to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth), the Court was renamed and continued in existence as the FCFCOA (Division 2).

The FCFCOA (Division 2) is a federal court of record and a court of law and equity established by Parliament as an independent federal court under Chapter III of the Constitution.

The jurisdiction of the Court is best described by reference to three main areas: family law and child support, migration law, and a broad range of general federal law areas of jurisdiction including administrative law, admiralty law, bankruptcy, consumer law, human rights, industrial law, intellectual property, and privacy. The Court shares these jurisdictions with the FCFCOA (Division 1) (in respect of family law and child support) and the Federal Court of Australia (in respect of migration and general federal law).

Since 1 September 2021, the Court operates as the single point of entry for the filing of all family law applications, and matters may be transferred to the FCFCOA (Division 1) where considered appropriate based on their complexity.

The objective of the Court is to provide timely access to justice and resolve disputes in all areas of law in an efficient and cost-effective manner, using appropriate dispute resolution processes. The provisions of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth) enable the Court to operate as informally as possible in the exercise of judicial powers, use streamlined procedures and make use of a range of dispute resolution processes to resolve matters without the need for judicial decisions, where appropriate.

The Court sits in all capital cities and some major regional centres in all of the areas in which the Court has jurisdiction. The Court also regularly circuits to a number of regional and rural locations in family law. It deals with a high volume of matters and delivers services to regional Australia, in addition to utilising technology to facilitate remote access to the Court where appropriate.

The Chief Judge is responsible for managing the business and administrative affairs of the Court, assisted by the Deputy Chief Judge (Family Law) and the Deputy Chief Judge (General and Fair Work). The Chief Judge is assisted by the CEO and Principal Registrar, who is appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Chief Justice.

Performance and key activities

Purpose

To provide timely access to justice and resolve disputes in all areas of law in an efficient and cost-effective manner, using appropriate dispute resolution processes.

Outcome

Apply and uphold the rule of law for litigants in the FCFCOA (Division 2) through the just, safe, efficient, and timely resolution of family law and general federal law matters according to law, through the encouragement of appropriate dispute resolution processes through the effective management of the administrative affairs of the Court.

Guiding principles

  • Deliver just, efficient, and effective dispute resolution in family law, migration and general federal law matters.
  • Ensure best practice in judicial and non-judicial processes.
  • Protect vulnerable parties and children.
  • Build public trust and confidence.
  • Improve access to justice.

Key activities

For 2024–25 (and the outlook period through to 2028), the Listed Entity will provide support for the FCFCOA (Division 2) to progress the following key activities:

Table 5. Program 3.1 key activities, 2024–25 to 2027–28.

Key activities

2024–25

2025–26

2026–27

2027–28

Just, safe, efficient, and timely resolution of family law and general federal law matters.

x

x

x

x

Appropriate response to risk and family violence and protecting vulnerable parties, including women and children.

x

x

x

x

Maximise the role of family law registrars to ensure they provide specialist services to families and to support judges to hear matters earlier.

x

x

x

x

Enhance the Court’s ability to conduct more court hearings and provide greater access to justice for rural and regional Australia.

x

x

x

x

Continue to expand the provision of dispute resolution within the Court, utilising registrars and Court Child Experts, to free up the Court’s pathway for more cases to be heard quickly and cost effectively.

x

x

x

x

Continue Lighthouse to support families who may have experienced family violence and other risks (continuation beyond 2025–26 subject to continued funding).

x

x

  

Continue to implement the Priority Property Pool (PPP cases) to provide a quicker, cheaper, and simpler way of resolving family law property disputes involving small property pools.

x

x

x

x

Improve access to justice for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander litigants and children through the Indigenous Liaison Officer program (continuation beyond 2025–26 subject to continued funding).

x

x

  

Improve access to justice for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander litigants and children through the development of tailored case management responses and processes, including specialist Indigenous Lists, and other measures.

x

x

x

x

Work towards enhanced collaboration with child welfare agencies and service providers to facilitate information sharing when risks are alleged in family law proceedings.

x

x

x

x

Review the general federal law rules, practice directions and case management procedures to improve support for judges and achieve efficiencies.

x

x

x

x

Enhanced general federal law registrar support for judges in time consuming interlocutory disputes and dispute resolution.

x

x

x

x

Draw on data and new techniques to identify appropriate case management for different cohorts of migration cases, and greater use of technology and areas of responsibility for registrars to deal with migration cases as quickly as possible.

x

x

  

Improve the digital capabilities of the Court by enhancing the Digital Court File, eFiling and other online services and digital processes.

x

x

x

x

Enhanced migration registrar support for judges in migration cases.

x

x

x

x

Efficient and effective approach to Fair Work (Small Claims) matters, include through an emphasis on dispute resolution processes and the effective use of registrar resources.

x

x

x

x

2024–25 significant initiatives

  • Ongoing review of the new case management pathway, with a focus on timeliness, efficiency of the new case management pathway and outcomes for vulnerable litigants and children.
  • Ongoing revision and improvement of Lighthouse, with a focus on refining all aspects of risk screening and assessment, safety planning and service referral, and bespoke risk-based case management, including the high-risk Evatt List. Currently funding until 30 June 2026.
  • Expansion of PPP to additional registries nationally, with an expanded criterion, to enable a cost-effective means for the resolution of property disputes with smaller asset pools, in a way that addresses all aspects of family violence, including coercive control.
  • Continued engagement of Indigenous Family Liaison Officers and development of tailored case management processes for matters involving Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander litigants and children, including specialist Indigenous Lists. Currently majority of funding for Indigenous Family Liaison Officers until 30 June 2026.
  • Continued expansion of the information sharing and co-location initiatives in family law.
  • Timely delivery of judgments by both judges and registrars.
  • Ongoing review and update of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021 to create a complete set of rules applicable to the general federal law jurisdictions of the Court that are consistent with the Federal Court Rules 2011 where appropriate.
  • Ongoing review and refinement of case management processes and procedures in the migration jurisdiction to address the backlog of pending migration cases.
  • Ongoing implementation of changes to small claims matters within the Court’s fair work jurisdiction.
  • Establish a common platform based on the modernised Digital Court File to incorporate case management, workload management and dashboards within a single application.

Performance measurement

The key outcome measures for the FCFCOA (Division 2) are contained in Outcome Three of the Portfolio Budget Statements.

The FCFCOA (Division 2) Court maintains three goals related to timely completion of cases to measure the performance of its work. All strategies, priorities and key activities are designed to support the achievement of these performance goals. Performance against these goals is reported in the Court’s annual report and in the Annual Performance Statement, published in the Listed Entity annual report.

Performance measure

Goal 1 – Timely completion of cases: 80-90% of final order applications resolved within 12 months.

Planned performance result

2024–25 – 80–90% of final order applications resolved within 12 months.

2025–26 – 80–90% of final order applications resolved within 12 months.

2026–27 – 80–90% of final order applications resolved within 12 months.

2027–28 – 80–90% of final order applications resolved within 12 months.

Rationale

This measures the percentage of final order applications that are resolved in less than 12 months from the date they are filed. This will assist the Court to monitor the efficient resolution of disputes, to ensure families are receiving timely access to justice.

Methodology/source

The target will be measured by reference to the percentage of final order applications finalised within the financial year that have been finalised within 12 months of their filing date.

Performance measure

Goal 2 – Timely completion of cases: 90% of general federal law applications (excluding migration) resolved within 12 months.

Planned performance result

2024–25 – 90% of general federal law applications (excluding migration) resolved within 12 months.

2025–26 – 90% of general federal law applications (excluding migration) resolved within 12 months.

2026–27 – 90% of general federal law applications (excluding migration) resolved within 12 months.

2027–28 – 90% of general federal law applications (excluding migration) resolved within 12 months.

Rationale

This measures the percentage of general federal law applications (excluding migration) that are resolved in less than 12 months from the date they are filed. This will assist the Court to monitor the efficient resolution of disputes, to ensure litigants are receiving timely access to justice.

Methodology/source

The target will be measured by reference to the percentage of general federal law applications finalised within the financial year that have been finalised within 12 months of their filing date.

Performance measure

Goal 3 – Timely completion of cases: 75% of all judgments delivered within three months.

Planned performance result

2024–25 – 75% of all judgments delivered within three months.

2025–26 – 75% of all judgments delivered within three months.

2026–27 – 75% of all judgments delivered within three months.

2027–28 – 75% of all judgments delivered within three months.

Rationale

This measures the percentage of judgments that are delivered within three months of the date of the hearing to which they relate, to ensure the Court is resolving matters in a timely way where that resolution requires the delivery of orders and reasons for judgment.

Methodology/source

This target will be measured by reference to the time taken between the conclusion of the hearing/submissions and the date the reasons for judgment are delivered, and the percentage of those judgments that are delivered within three months, out of all judgments delivered during the financial year.

The Listed Entity’s Annual Performance Statement, published in the annual report, will report on the success of the plan to achieve timely completion of cases.

Measures of success

  • Improved efficiencies and access to justice in family law through clear and harmonised rules and case management procedures.
  • Improved case management through early registrar triage and safely conducted dispute resolution, resulting in increased judicial time to focus on the most complex disputes and judgment writing.
  • Reduced delays and backlogs of pending family law cases, assisting litigants to resolve their disputes in a just and timely manner with simplified court procedures.
  • Positive outcomes for children and families through increased information sharing and engagement with relevant stakeholders and other jurisdictions.
  • Improved protection of at-risk parties and children exposed to family violence and other risks through early risk identification, screening, and assessment.
  • Improved support and cultural responsiveness in proceedings involving Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander litigants and children, through ongoing engagement with relevant communities and stakeholders as well as growth within the Courts’ Indigenous Family Liaison Officer cohort.
  • Improved efficiencies and access to justice in general federal law and migration cases through clear, comprehensive, and updated rules, case management procedures and increased registrar support.