Over the last three years the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1) (the Court) has been making the processes for the exercise of appellate jurisdiction in family law more efficient. The Court has successfully reduced the average time from filing to finalisation of an appeal from 6.7 months to just over 3 months, with 100 per cent of appeals being finalised within 12 months for the second consecutive year. The Court is eager to continue to improve its processes to make the conduct of appeals as efficient as possible.
In pursuit of that goal, the Court is pleased to announce that as of 9 December 2024 appeals will be commenced, and documents in appeals filed, on the Commonwealth Courts Portal. This change harmonises appeal processes in the Court with processes in the original jurisdictions of the Court and in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2). This will mean that from 9 December 2024:
- The Commonwealth Court Portal will be a single point of entry to commence an appeal from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1), the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2), the Family Court of Western Australia and the Magistrates Court of Western Australia.
- All documents filed in appeal proceedings before the Court will be able to be filed directly through the Commonwealth Court Portal. Documents will no longer be accepted for filing by email unless permitted by an existing order or to accommodate accessibility requirements, consistent with other proceedings before the FCFCOA (Division 1) and FCFCOA (Division 2).
- Payment of fees and/or applications for fee exemption will now be processed via the Commonwealth Courts Portal. Legal practitioners will be able to use payment information previously registered for the Commonwealth Courts Portal. This is consistent with other proceedings before the Federal Circuit and Family Courts of Australia.
- The filing process is guided, informing practitioners and litigants of their obligations under the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021.
For appeals from the Family Court of WA or the Magistrates Court of WA, parties and their lawyers will need to ensure they are registered to use the Commonwealth Courts Portal https://www.comcourts.gov.au/
These new, fully electronic and simplified filing and fee payment processes will help the Courts to ensure that appeals continue to be processed and heard as efficiently as possible.
An amended Family Law Practice Direction: Appeals and updates to Family law: Appeal Procedures page on the Courts’ website will be published on Monday, 9 December 2024. Practitioners and litigants are encouraged to review these new documents once published. A further update will be published providing these links next Monday, 9 December 2024.
