Attorney-General Announces New Family Court Structure

Attorney-General, Christian Porter, has announced that the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia are to be amalgamated into a single new Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCA) with effect from 1st January 2019. 

A new Family Law Appeal Division in the Federal Court of Australia will also be established to hear all appeals in family law matters from the newly created FCFCA (and some appeals from the Family Court of Western Australia).

However, there will be no changes to jurisdiction or operation of the High Court of Australia, the Family Court of Western Australia, or other State and Territory courts that deal with family law cases.

According to the Attorney-General, these changes will help families save time and costs in family law disputes.

"This single new court, the FCFCA, will help Australian families resolve their disputes faster by improving the efficiency of the existing split family law system, reducing the backlog of matters before the family law courts, and driving faster, cheaper and more consistent dispute resolution," he explained.

"This significant structural change is designed to dramatically increase the number of family law matters finalised each and every year, and reduce the backlog of unresolved cases on hand at any one time,” he said. “The purpose of the reform is to ensure Australian families experience shorter waiting times, and a reduction in the potential for conflict caused by prolonged and acrimonious family disputes."

"The FCFCA will have one single point of entry for all federal family law matters to provide a consistent pathway for Australian families needing to have their family law disputes dealt with by court proceedings,” he added. “Families will have one new court with one set of new rules, procedures and practices designed to ensure that their disputes will be dealt with by the FCFCA in the most timely, informed and cost effective manner possible."

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