Recent changes to Federal Court Rules and Practice Notes
11 June 2026
There have been some recent changes to the Federal Court Rules. There have also been updates made to two of the Federal Court’s Practice Notes. This page provides a summary of the main changes made to both the Rules and Practice Notes.
Changes to the Rules
The changes to the Federal Court Rules start on 11 June 2026. The changes apply to anyone who has a case, or wants to bring a case, in the Federal Court. They apply whether or not you have a lawyer.
New rule 2.27A – leave to start proceedings
If a Judge has given a direction that you need permission, called “leave”, before you can file documents in the Federal Court to start your case, there is a new rule that tells you how to apply for that leave.
To apply for that leave, the new rule says that you must:
- Fill in a Form 139 – Ex Parte Application for Leave to Institute Proceedings [hyperlink];
- Not give notice of your application to any other person, including the person or organisation you want to start your case against;
- Include a written statement, called an “affidavit”, that explains why you should be given leave to start your case and sets out information about any other cases you have in the Federal Court and any recent attempts you have made to start new cases.
To learn more about these requirements, it is best to read the new rule 2.27A, which can be found in the Federal Court Rules.
Once your application for leave and affidavit have been filed in the Federal Court, a Judge will decide whether to give you leave to start your case. This will usually occur without any oral hearing or any appearance before the Judge.
New Division 5.3 – power to stay proceedings for certain behaviour
New Division 5.3 of the Federal Court Rules contains rules that give Judges clear power to stop or “stay” a case if a person engages in certain kinds of behaviour.
Under these new rules, a Judge can stop your case if you act or communicate in a way that is: abusive, threatening, repetitive or inappropriate. These rules apply whether you act or communicate that way towards a Judge, Registrar, Federal Court staff or the other side.
You cannot apply to the Court to stop a case under Division 5.3. The Court can only decide on its own, called “on its own motion”, to stop a case. Judges can initially stop a case for up to 6 months. If the behaviour continues, Judges can permanently stop a case from going ahead.
During the time the case is stopped, the person who has engaged in the behaviour must not communicate about their case with the Judge, Registrar, Court staff or the other side. To learn more about these new rules, it is best to read Division 5.3 of the Federal Court Rules.
Livestreaming
Division 6.3 has been added to the Federal Court Rules which sets out a new rule giving clear power to Judges to decide if a case should be livestreamed. It is up to each Judge to decide whether livestreaming should occur. In making this decision, the Judge can consider any practice note about livestreaming.
Appeals
Changes have been made to the Federal Court Rules about appeal books and other documents to be filed. These changes apply to appeals from the Administrative Review Tribunal and appeals to the Full Court of the Federal Court.
Appeal books must now be divided into two parts (Part 1 and Part 2) and only contain the material set out in the relevant rules. You no longer need to seek Registrar approval of an index or appeal book, but you can request that a Registrar assist you.
Each party to an appeal must file the following documents within the set time frames:
Document | Party Responsible | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Outline of submissions on the appeal & chronology of relevant events | Both |
Applicant – 25 business days before hearing Respondent – 20 business days before hearing |
| Documents in reply | Applicant | 15 business days before hearing |
| Appeal book | Applicant | 10 business days before hearing |
| Updated outline of submissions and chronology of relevant events cross-referenced to appeal book | Both | 5 business days before hearing |
| List of authorities and legislation to be referred to | Both |
Applicant – 5 business days before hearing Respondent – 4 business days before hearing |
Costs
The Federal Court Rules have been updated to increase the amount of costs allowed for work done and services performed by lawyers. This may mean that, if you win your case, you can recover some more of the fees you paid to lawyers.
Changes to the Practice Notes
Updates have recently been made to two of the Federal Court’s Practice Notes:
- Practice Note APP 2: Content of appeal books and preparation for hearing; and
- eBooks Practice Note (GPN-eBOOKS).
The changes made to Practice Note APP2 reflect the recent changes made to the Federal Court Rules that are outlined in the section above called “Appeals”. There also some changes to Practice Note APP2 about formatting of appeal books and lists of authorities.
The updates made to the eBooks Practice Note are mainly about formatting of eBooks.
