A new family law Practice Direction has been issued by the Chief Justice that applies to electronic subpoena inspection in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1) and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2).
Previously, electronic inspection of subpoenaed documents was a temporary measure introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the process was still governed by a Special Measures Information Notice issued during the pandemic.
In response to feedback from the profession, the undertaking to be given when ‘inspection only’ material (police, child welfare, medical or criminal records) is sought to be inspected electronically has been updated. The new version of the undertaking requires destruction of material to be within:
- 7 days of ceasing to act in the proceedings;
- 28 days after the finalisation of the proceedings at first instance; or
- 28 days after the finalisation of an appeal;
whichever is applicable
The Practice Direction also contains the subpoena email address for each registry, as well as the booking link for represented or unrepresented parties to make an booking to inspect subpoenaed documents in a registry.
The Practice Direction also notes that:
- Inspection only material must not be filed as an Annexure to an affidavit;
- A tender bundle may be provided to the Court by lodging it electronically via the Commonwealth Courts Portal, in accordance with the filing timetable for the relevant hearing. A tender bundle is not a filed document, will be suppressed upon lodgement and therefore will not be visible by any party. Practitioners must serve the tender bundle on each other party in accordance with the orders or directions of the Court.
The Practice Direction takes effect from 19 December 2024.
