If you have a procedural enquiry you can contact the Courts via the Enquiries hub, Live chat, or on 1300 352 000 between 8.30 am and 5.00 pm (AEST) Monday to Friday. More information about contacting the Courts is available on the Contact Us page.
You are not permitted to contact a Judge or Registrar directly, however, legal representatives and parties may communicate with the chambers of the presiding judicial officer in limited circumstances. You should only email chambers via the Associate/s to a Judge or Senior Judicial Registrar, or the Case Manager to a Judicial Registrar or Deputy Registrar, in the following situations:
- if you and the other party reach agreement and draft consent orders at any point during your case. You may email the chambers of the Judge or Registrar to whom your case is docketed, to request that the proposed consent orders be made in chambers, without the need for another Court event. All parties to the proceedings must be copied into this email,
- if you wish to seek an adjournment of an upcoming Court date. First you must raise the issue with the other party/ies, you may then email any joint request for an adjournment to the chambers of the Judge or Registrar for their consideration. All parties to the proceedings must be copied into this email (if there is no consent about an adjournment, see point 5 below), or
- if you require procedural information about your case that cannot be found on the Commonwealth Courts Portal, such as dial in details for an electronic court event. All parties to the proceedings must be copied into this email.
It is important to remember that Court staff (including Associates and Case Managers) cannot provide legal advice. They can only provide you with procedural information or refer you to others who may be able to assist.
What to consider before contacting chambers
There are a number of things you need to keep in mind when contacting the chambers of a judicial officer:
- If you are a party in a proceeding, and you are legally represented, you should not contact chambers directly. Your legal representative should contact chambers on your behalf.
- All communication written to a Judge or Registrar must occur through their Chambers staff.
- Any necessary communication with the Court should be done with the consent of all the parties, in writing (preferably email) and with all parties copied into the communication. This includes an Independent Children's Lawyer (if appointed).
- Before contacting chambers, you and the other parties (or their legal representative, if they are legally represented) should agree that it is appropriate to contact chambers because the issue cannot be resolved without the Judge or Registrar. For this purpose, you should always contact the other parties in your case, and any legal representative/s (if represented), before contacting the Court, explaining the reasons for the communication.
- Even if the other party’s consent to the communication has not been received, any email to chambers should include all other parties, or their legal representative/s (if represented). Chambers staff may not respond to your email unless all parties are copied into the correspondence. You should also be aware that a copy of your correspondence could be provided to the other legal representative/s, and parties.
- Unless exceptional circumstances exist, parties and legal representatives should only communicate with chambers staff by email.
- All communication with chambers should be courteous and respectful. The Court will not respond to correspondence containing abusive or offensive language.
These guidelines are not intended to apply to communications with a registrar acting in an administrative capacity (for example, in their role as a Duty Registrar) or in the context of a dispute resolution event.
More information
For more information about what to expect at a Court hearing, please see the video:
For more information about Court processes and procedure, please see ‘Etiquette and tips’.
