Family Law Court: Parramatta Council includes family courts in legal precinct plan
A bold plan to expand Parramatta’s justice precinct will also incorporate bolstering the “overloaded” family courts to assist it deal with a backlog of cases across a massive catchment.
Parramatta
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Parramatta Council wants to ease pressure on the overloaded Family Court — the fourth busiest in Australia — as part of its ambitious plan to expand the justice precinct in its CBD.
Last week, Parramatta Lord Mayor Bob Dwyer outlined the council’s plan to establish a permanent Supreme Court and law school in the CBD in an effort to pump $353 million its economy and double the number of jobs in the justice precinct to 2600.
At its meeting on Monday night, the council unanimously voted to write to the state and federal attorney generals and include Parramatta Family Courts in its plans after councillor Donna Davis said the system was overloaded with a two-year backlog of cases.
A courts spokeswoman said the Parramatta registry included western Sydney and extended to regional areas including the Blue Mountains, the central west of NSW and regions to the north and south.
“Families in NSW can choose to file in Sydney, Parramatta, Newcastle or circuit locations such as Dubbo or Wollongong in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia,’’ the spokeswoman said.
After Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney CBD, Parramatta has the fourth highest number of filings of Australia’s family law courts and is served by eight judges.
The spokeswoman said the Australian family courts were seeking government funding to assist with large workload demands across the system and were using successful initiatives to reduce delays.
The council reiterated how judges needed to dump their “outdated, snobby views” of Sydney’s “second city” for the bold plan to proceed.
The claims were outlined in a council report that said Parramatta had court infrastructure but the key constraint was resourcing.
“There is not an overall shortage of judges but rather there is a shortage of judges who are willing to work permanently in Parramatta,’’ the report said.
Councillor Benjamin Barrak, who is also a lawyer, outlined the demand for the Supreme Court in Parramatta, which he said had the second largest legal fraternity in NSW.
“It’s something that is severely overdue and I’d like to see our justice precinct look like a world class precinct,’’ he said.
Councillor Bill Tyrrell said judges’ refusal to work in the Supreme Court should lead to the attorney general to appoint staff from western Sydney instead, saying there was plenty of talent and smart people to fill positions.