Media Guide

Everything you need to know when reporting on the Federal Court.

Journalists play an important role in helping the public understand the work of the Court. This page has been designed to help members of the media report fairly and accurately.

Contact

Journalists and media representatives should direct any requests or enquiries to the Federal Court of Australia's media team.

Email: Media-FCA@fedcourt.gov.au
Phone: 03 8638 9700

When contacting the media team about an existing Court matter, please include the file number and name where possible.
Example: NSD173/2024

If you have an enquiry but are not a journalist or representing a media outlet, please contact the Court's registry.

Judges do not provide comment to the media on cases over which they are presiding.

Journalists can sign up to the Media-FCA mailing list to receive email notifications about matters of high public interest, including YouTube livestreams and online file updates. Please contact the media team by email for requests to join the mailing list.

Media Committee

The Federal Court of Australia's Media Committee is comprised of Judges, Registrars and staff of the Court, as well as selected external media representatives.

The Media Committee provides a high level, informal and confidential forum for discussing and resolving issues of mutual concern. This is to help facilitate open and constructive dialogue between various parties with a common interest in and responsibility for open justice.

This includes reporting on and making recommendations to the Chief Justice and to the Judges on significant issues which relate to the Court’s media function.

Current membership

Committee Members

Justice Jane Needham (C)
Justice Stephen McDonald
Justice Nicholas Owens
Justice Erin Longbottom
Assistant Director, Media and Information, Ryan Tennison (S)

(C) Convenor (S) Secretariat

Media Representatives

Elizabeth Byrne (journalist, ABC)
Alexandra Jones (journalist, SBS)
Miklos Bolza (journalist, AAP)
Michaela Whitbourn (journalist, SMH / Nine)
Ellie Dudley (journalist, The Australian)
Cindy Cameronne (journalist, Lawyerly)

Remote observation

Requests for remote access

In the interest of accessible justice, journalists and other media representatives are encouraged to attend and observe Court proceedings, either in-person or by remote access technology.

Some Court events may have remote access details, such as a YouTube livestream or Webex link, published directly to the Daily Court List. The Daily Court Lists are updated at approximately 4.30pm for the next business day.

To place a request for remote observation of an upcoming Court event, please contact the media team by email.

Remote access to hearings remains at the discretion of the presiding Judge or Registrar.

Unless participating in a hearing, observers are required to keep their microphones muted and cameras off when joining a remote access link, and for the duration of the hearing, to not cause any disruption.

Recording policy

Recording any video or audio of any hearing, including by capturing the audio and/or video feed using the remote hearing software on a computer or other electronic device, is strictly prohibited without express approval of the Court. Failure to comply may constitute contempt of the Court.

Audio and video recording and transmission and the use of cameras, mobile phones, tablets or other equipment to take photographs is prohibited on Court premises without express approval.

However, this does not prevent any person, based on what he or she has seen or heard at the hearing from making his or her own notes of the proceeding, or publishing a fair report of the proceeding.

For more information, please refer to r 6.11 and r 6.12 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) .

Judgments

Unless otherwise indicated during a hearing, the Court does not comment on the timing of judgments until the delivery of judgment is imminent.

Judgments are usually published within 24 hours of being made available by Judges' staff and may be earlier in cases of high media interest.

On our website, you can view the latest judgments or search our collection. To view all orders and judgments in a Court proceeding, visit the Commonwealth Courts Portal.

Commonwealth Courts Portal

Journalists and other media representatives can use Federal Law Search, through the Commonwealth Courts Portal (CCP), to find key information about a Court proceeding, including:

The file number and title
Past and future court dates
Published orders and judgments
A list of parties, including the presiding Judge or Registrar
A list of filed documents*

* Copies of Court documents are not available to non-parties on the CCP. To apply for copies of documents filed in a proceeding, please refer to Access to Court Documents below.

If a Court file is confidential, or a pseudonym has been assigned to a party, the file will not be available through Federal Law Search.

Track a Case

If a file is available on the CCP, you can sign up to receive email notifications when there is activity on the matter, such as documents being filed, orders being published or court dates being listed.

Steps

1. Register (or login) to the CCP
2. Search for the file - either by names of the parties or the file number if you have it.
3. Under each Application, click on "Notify me by email of activity on this application"

If there is more than one application, you will need to do this several times.

Starred Files

If a file is available on the CCP, you can add it to your Starred Files to easily keep track of recent activity and future court dates.

Steps

1. Register (or login) to the CCP
2. Search for the file - either by names of the parties or the file number if you have it.
3. Select the ‘star’ icon to add the matter to your Starred Files
4. Under File Access, select Recent Activity to see the latest updates on your Starred Files
5. Open the Court Diary tab and change the view to Starred Files to view upcoming court dates

Access to Court Documents

Journalists can apply for copies of Court documents by completing a non-party access request form, which can be accessed below:

Download RTF (118 KB) Download DOCX (118 KB) Download PDF (344 KB)

When completing a non-party access request, applicants should be aware of the following:

Whether the proceeding has had its first directions hearing or hearing
Whether the documents sought are considered unrestricted or restricted under the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) - see r 2.32 ‘Inspection of Documents’
Whether the request is clear, concise and completed with enough detail
Whether suppression or non-publication orders are in place
Whether an online file has been established for the proceeding – see Public Interest Cases – Online Files below for more information

Journalists are encouraged to visit the Commonwealth Courts Portal for file information and review the Access to Documents and Transcripts Practice Note (GPN-ACCS) before submitting a request.

A fee is payable for the production of a file under item 123 of the Federal Court and Federal Circuit and Family Court Regulations 2022. In almost all circumstances, digital copies of documents will be provided by email.

The media team does not provide access to Court documents. Please submit your non-party access request, and any follow-up enquiries, to one of the contacts listed below.

Where do I submit my non-party access request?

For civil proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia:
Document.Inspections@fedcourt.gov.au
For Native Title proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia:
nativetitleinspections@fedcourt.gov.au
For criminal proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia:
FederalCourtCrime@fedcourt.gov.au

Requests for documents filed in criminal proceedings are governed by the Federal Court (Criminal Proceedings) Rules 2016 (Cth) and a separate non-party access request form is in force. A step-by-step guide to applying for access to Court documents in criminal proceedings is available.

More Information

Public Interest Cases - Online Files

In select cases of high public interest, the Court will establish an online file where documents are published as soon as they are deemed to be publicly accessible. When a proceeding has an online file, non-party access requests do not need to be made.

Documents are added to online files in accordance with a protocol laid down by the Court which includes unrestricted documents, together with affidavits read in open court, documents received into evidence as exhibits, submissions acted upon in open court or in a judgment of the Court, and orders and reasons for judgment.

Some redactions may be applied to material in the documents.

View our full list of online files »