Things to be aware of as we head into 2016 are:
- The Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court Registries are now cashless. Payments can be made by card and cheque. Cheques must be made payable to the "Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia" irrespective of which court you are filing in. If your client is eligible for a waiver of fees please remember to include this waiver with any documents for filing.
- There is a new practice in the Family Court of Australia regarding transfers before Judges - any matter seeking a transfer before a Judge is listed before a Duty Registrar on a Thursday morning at 9:30am. At this time submissions are made in relation to the matter and the necessity for a transfer before the Judge. The Registrar will then review the matter and transfer it, if appropriate, before a Judge on the following Monday morning at 10:00am. The rationale for this is to enable the Judge time to adequately review the material and issues in dispute so that matters can be dealt with more efficiently.
- The delays have extended to Family Consultants and there is a wait of approximately six to eight months for family reports to be completed.
- Return of Subpoenas continue to be held every Tuesday and Divorce Hearings every Wednesday.
- The Family Court and Federal Circuit Court have enabled practitioners to file Initiating Applications and Response to Initiating Applications on the Commonwealth Court Portal. Practitioners can file a wide variety of documents on the Portal to save time and make files more readily available.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.