Media Release

LIP Research Collaboration

19 August 2026

Today the Federal Court of Australia entered into a strategic research partnership with the University of New South Wales on unrepresented litigants and the administration of justice.

The number of unrepresented litigants in the Federal Court has risen sharply in recent years, presenting challenges for the Court and also for litigants themselves who run or defend complex litigation without lawyers.

The research collaboration aims to deliver the first comprehensive, evidence-based examination of unrepresented litigants in the Federal Court, through analysis of Court data. The research will be undertaken within a carefully governed legal and ethical framework. The collaboration will test existing assumptions and seek to generate credible findings and insights that will shape institutional approaches to unrepresented litigants in the Federal Court and across the justice system.

The research collaboration will open a range of possibilities, such as:

• Understanding the reasons why litigants conduct proceedings without a lawyer.
• Collecting appropriate data to understand whether changes that are made to Court procedures are effective.
• Reviewing available literature to inform decisions being made as to future initiatives in case management and mediation.
• Collecting reliable data on the extent of judicial time and court resources that are committed to matters involving litigants in person.
• Identifying effective ways to direct litigants to available pro bono and legal services.

The research project is an interdisciplinary partnership with the University of New South Wales, led by two eminent academics – Professor Kristy Martire from the School of Psychology and Associate Professor Harry Hobbs from the Faculty of Law and Justice. All data shared with the University of New South Wales will be subject to a strict confidentiality regime and will not include sharing of personal information about litigants without their express consent.

The research collaboration recently received generous seed funding from the University of New South Wales’ Translational Impact Seed Fund and the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration.

The research partnership was formalised today, 19 August 2026, through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Court and the University of New South Wales at an event held in the Federal Court’s New South Wales Registry in Sydney.

The event included addresses from the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon. Michelle Rowland MP (via video message), Chief Justice Debra Mortimer and Justice Craig Colvin of the Federal Court of Australia, Associate Professor Harry Hobbs of the University of New South Wales, and Justice Julie Ward as President of the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration.

In August 2024, the Federal Court established the Litigants in Person and Pro Bono Project, introducing a coordinated, whole-of-court approach to the management of matters involving litigants in person. Building on that work, in March 2026, the Federal Court introduced a new Litigants in Person Practice Note. More information about the Litigants in Person and Pro Bono Project is available on the Court’s website.