FCFCOA Practice Direction – Revocation of Practice Directions and Information Notices

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(PD-REVOKE)

1. Introduction

1.1 The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (the Court) has developed new rules of court for all proceedings in the Court with effect from 1 September 2021. The new rules of court (new rules) are as follows:

  1. the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021;
  2. the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (Family Law) Rules 2021;
  3. the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021; and
  4. the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (Bankruptcy) Rules 2021.

1.2 Various new Practice Directions and Information Notices have been issued to accompany the new rules.

1.3 Following a review of the Courts' existing Practice Directions and Information Notices, the purpose of this Practice Direction is to formally revoke a number of outdated or superseded Practice Directions and Information Notices issued by the Family Court of Australia or Federal Circuit Court of Australia prior to the commencement of the operation of the Court on 1 September 2021.

1.4 The Practice Directions and Information Notices revoked by this Practice Direction will be moved to a separate 'Archived' folder on the Court's website.

2. Revocation of Practice Directions

Family Court of Australia

2.1 The following Practice Directions issued in the Family Court of Australia are revoked with effect from the date of this Practice Direction:

  1. No 2 of 1990 – Injunctions;
  2. No 2 of 1995 – Federal Proceedings (Costs) Act 1981;
  3. No 5 of 2001 – Standard Form of Words for Opening and Closing The Family Court of Australia;
  4. No 6 of 2001 – Full Court Sittings – Western Australia;
  5. No 6 of 2003 – Divorce Applications to be Filed in Federal Magistrates Court;
  6. No 9 of 2004 – Victorian and Queensland Registries: Medical Procedural Applications;
  7. No 1 of 2006 – Family Law Amendment (Shared Parenting Responsibility) Act 2006 Transition Directions;
  8. No 1 of 2017 – Conduct of appeals;
  9. No 2 of 2017 – Digital Court File; and
  10. No 1 of 2019 – Applications for leave to appeal.

Federal Circuit Court of Australia

2.2 The following Practice Directions issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia are revoked with effect from the date of this Practice Direction:

  1. No 2 of 2008 – Family Dispute Resolution – Applications for orders under Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975;
  2. No 1 of 2010 – Robing of Counsel in the Federal Circuit Court;
  3. No 1 of 2015 – Citations of decisions of Australian Courts and Tribunals – AustLII;
  4. No 1 of 2016 – Consent orders in proceedings involving a federal tribunal;
  5. No 2 of 2017 – Interim Family Law Proceedings (from 1 January 2019); and
  6. No 1 of 2019 – Judicial Mediations in Family Law Matters.

Joint Practice Direction

2.3 The following Joint Practice Direction issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia is revoked with effect from the date of this Practice Direction:

  1. No 1 of 2020 – Core Principles in the Case Management of Family Law Matters.

3. Revocation of Information Notices

Family Court of Australia

3.1 The following Information Notices issued in the Family Court of Australia are archived with effect from the date of this Practice Direction:

  1. Application for Consent Orders (published 27 February 2009); and
  2. Special Measures Information Note – Special Measures in Response to COVID-19 (published 14 April 2020).

Federal Circuit Court of Australia

3.2 The following Information Notices issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia are archived with effect from the date of this Practice Direction:

  1. Information on the first Court date for General Federal Law (non-migration) cases in Sydney (published 8 October 2007);
  2. Filing of Supplementary Documents and Divorce Application by Electronic Communication (published 1 February 2011);
  3. Communicating with Judges' Chambers (published 1 June 2011);
  4. Information about the Conduct of General Federal Law Matters (published 12 April 2013);
  5. Specialist Panels in General Federal Law (published 12 April 2013);
  6. Electronic Engrossment of Orders – Family Law Matters – Victorian and Tasmanian Registries (published 17 December 2013);
  7. Ex-parte applications for substituted service in bankruptcy proceedings and application for examination summonses under Section 81 Bankruptcy Act 1966 (published 30 September 2014);
  8. Sitting Hours Protocol (published 3 May 2016);
  9. Filing by electronic communication pursuant to Rules 2.07A and 2.07B Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 (published 4 May 2016);
  10. Court File (published 7 March 2017);
  11. Conducting Your Case: Family Law and Child Support (published 2 November 2017); and
  12. Admiralty and Maritime National Practice Area in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (3 June 2020).

Joint Information Notices

3.3 The following Joint Information Notice issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia is archived with effect from the date of this Practice Direction:

  1. The National Arbitration List (published 15 May 2020).

4. Reissued Practice Directions and Information Notices

4.1 The following Joint Practice Directions issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia have been revoked and reissued in the Court:

  1. No 1 of 2020 – Core Principles in the Case Management of Family Law Matters – reissued as Part 3 of Central Practice Direction – Family Law Case Management (FAM-CPD);
  2. No 2 of 2020 – Special Measures in Response to COVID-19, reissued as FCFCOA Practice Direction – COVID-19 Special Measures (PD-COVID); and
  3. No 3 of 2020 – The COVID-19 List, reissued as Family Law Practice Direction – National COVID-19 List (FAM-COVID).

4.2 The following Practice Directions issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia have been revoked and reissued in the Court:

  1. No 2 of 2020 – Case Management – Family Law (Priority Property Pools under $500,000) Financial Cases, reissued as Family Law Practice Direction – Priority Property Pools under $500,000 (FAM-PPP500);
  2. No 3 of 2020 – Lighthouse Project and Evatt List, reissued as Family Law Practice Direction – Lighthouse Project and Evatt List (FAM-LHP);
  3. No 2 of 2019 – Admiralty and Maritime, reissued as General Federal Law Practice Direction – Admiralty and Maritime (GENFED-ADMIRALTY); and
  4. No 1 of 2018 – Intellectual Property, reissued as General Federal Law Practice Direction – Intellectual Property (GENFED-IP).

4.3 The following Joint Information Notices issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia have been consolidated and reissued as FCFCOA Special Measures Information Notice – COVID-19 Electronic Subpoena Viewing and Inspection (SMIN-COVID):

  1. SMIN-2 – Subpoena Inspection in the Melbourne and Dandenong Registries;
  2. SMIN-3 – Subpoena Inspection in the Sydney, Newcastle, Parramatta, Dubbo and Wollongong Registries; and
  3. SMIN-4 – Subpoena Inspection in the Brisbane Registry.

4.4 The following Information Notices issued in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia has been revoked and reissued in the Court:

  1. Subpoenas and the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria, reissued as FCFCOA Information Notice – Subpoenas and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Victoria (IN-DFFH); and
  2. Information Notice – Court File, reissued as FCFCOA Information Notice –Court Record (IN-COURTRECORD).

5. Further information

5.1 Practice Directions and Information Notices issued in the Court from 1 September 2021 can be found on the Court's website at www.fcfcoa.gov.au.

The Honourable Justice William Alstergren

Chief Justice (Division 1) | Chief Judge (Division 2)

Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia

Date: 1 September 2021

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