A significant name change and court structure occurred at near the end 2021, which sees a lot of self represented parties asking, “What’s that about?” Two of our Federal Court jurisdictions, which saw many mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and partners appear each year for life changing matters transitioned into a single two-structure court.
For many years there have existed two Courts in Australia which dealt primarily with issues surrounding divorce and family law. These courts dealt with matters of custody issues for children and property splits, along with many divorce applications.
In September 2021, the two courts, the Federal Circuit Court and the Family Court of Australia merged into a single entity now known as the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
“The merger of the two federal courts (FCFC) commenced on 1 September, based on the rationale that combining the institutions would address ‘confusion, costs and delays’ experienced by families.”
While the name and structure change did occur, it faced opposition from respected sources including an array of retired judges from the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court. The retired judges went as far as publishing an open letter in November 2019 raising issues and concerns as to the merger.
Despite the opposition Commonwealth Attorney-General Michaelia Cash, pushed back on the comments sating it justified that the new FCFC would ensure that family law appeals were managed more efficiently because all Division 1 judges of the merged court would be able to hear appeals.
So what does all of this mean for mums and dads, husbands and wives looking at moving ahead with action in the new Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia? Well not too much as far as process goes. The same act (Family Law Act 1975) still applies, albeit with updates from time to time. Those principals behind custody sharing and property splits continue to remain generally unchanged. There have been some new steps and processes added with the new court structure, in the hope of achieving the primary functions sought under the Act yet with a view to reduce confusion, costs and delays. There are a range of new court forms under the new court structure and the grace period for using the old forms has now expired.
If you have already proceeded with filing your matter and need to complete service of your legal documents inline with the rules of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, we can assist with serving family law documents, divorce documents, legal documents of any variety including subpoenas. A Step-by-Step guide is available from our website. For specific information about serving a divorce application, please visit Service Divorce.
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Please note: None of the above information should be considered legal advice. If you are unclear about legal process, how to proceed with your matter or any other question relating to family law, you should contact a trained legal professional or the appropriate court for your matter.