Administrative Notice VIC 4
This Administrative Notice is REVOKED
On 25 October 2016, as part of the National Court Framework (NCF) reforms, all existing Administrative Notices were revoked and 26 new national practice notes were issued, effective immediately.
There will no longer be any administrative state-based notices.
To assist Court users to understand the changes to the practice documents, the Court has prepared:
Conduct of adverse action proceedings in the Victoria District Registry
Victoria District Registry
Each adverse action proceeding is docketed to a co-ordinating Judge and listed before that Judge for an initial directions.
After hearing from the parties at the directions hearing and, principally by reference to the likely complexity of the matter, the co-ordinating Judge will decide: (a) if the matter should proceed directly to trial; or (b) if a mediation order should be made before other case management orders are considered (or in addition to case management orders). Given that the matter will already have been conciliated before the Fair Work Commission, parties should be aware that for a non-complex adverse action claim a referral to mediation is only likely to occur in circumstances where the co-ordinating Judge is persuaded that circumstances exist which warrant a further mediation.
In relation to a non-complex adverse action claim, the co-ordinating Judge will require an explanation as to why the matter has been issued in the Federal Court and not the Federal Circuit Court and whether the applicant has been made aware that the legal costs of pursuing the claim in the Federal Court are likely to be significantly higher.
If it is ordered that the matter proceed directly to trial, appropriate cost effective orders (reflective of the overarching purposes provided for in s.37M of the Federal Court Act) will be made to facilitate a trial before a Judge in a specified week that is within 2 months of the directions hearing. Parties will be advised closer to trial of the specific day within the designated hearing week in which their matter is expected to commence. Parties are expected to attend the directions hearing with proposed orders which are timetabled to accommodate a trial within this timeframe. The trial will proceed by way of viva voce evidence and the exchange of short outlines of evidence will only be ordered if the Court determines they are required. Parties are expected to provide the Court with an estimate of the hearing time required, the number of witnesses and a broad identification of the evidence of each witness. The parties ought not expect the Court to take into account the availability of Counsel.
If a referral to mediation is ordered, the matter will be listed for a mediation on a date to be fixed before a Registrar. If the matter does not settle at mediation, arrangements will be made to list the matter before a Judge for case management and/or trial.
Sia Lagos
District Registrar, Victoria District Registry
7 July 2014
