Controversial courts merger bill shelved until 2021
The Morrison government has run out of time to push the legislation through the Senate in the final sitting week of 2020.
A controversial bill to reshape the family law system by merging the Family Court and lower-level Federal Circuit Court has been shelved until next year, with the Morrison government running out of time to try to push it through the Senate in the final sitting week of the year.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said last month that progressing the courts merger bill through parliament would be a “priority” before Christmas.
However, a spokesman for Mr Porter said the reform would not make it through the Senate this week; parliament rises on Thursday until February 2.
“The legislative agenda for the Senate this week is such that the courts merger bill won’t be progressed,” he said.
“It will be a priority when parliament resumes.”
As previously revealed by The Australian, One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has said she supports the reform, because it would “streamline the legal process”.
However, the government still needs to win the support of crossbench senator Rex Patrick or Stirling Griff to ensure its passage through the Senate. Labor, the Greens and independent Jacqui Lambie are opposed to it.
The legal profession has lobbied fiercely against the bill, which would create a new Federal Circuit and Family Court. Existing Family Court judges would form Division 1 of the new court, and Federal Circuit Court judges would form Division 2.
Senator Patrick said he did not yet have a position on the bill, which was a “next-year problem”. He said he would be raising with Mr Porter the fact that the bill did not set a 25-judge minimum for Division 1. A Senate inquiry recommended the government “strongly consider” including this legislative minimum to ensure a sufficient number of superior-level judges.
Mr Porter has said the reform would improve efficiency because families would no longer bounce between the two courts.
However, NSW Bar Association president Michael McHugh SC said on Sunday that the merger would mean all families would have to “come in through the Federal Circuit Court’s door”.
“While this measure is intended to streamline court processes, the reality is that it will lead families into gridlock and greater delay,” he said.
Lawyers have also warned the merger would lead to a loss of family law specialisation, because Federal Circuit Court judges also preside over general federal law cases, including migration, industrial law and bankruptcy disputes.
Chief Justice Will Alstergren, who heads both courts, last week hit back at “careless comments” that suggested the Federal Circuit Court’s family law judges were “generalists” who were “somehow putting children or families at risk”.
“The judges of the FCC are highly skilled in family law … They are already doing 90 per cent of all family law work and have an appeal rate of less than 1 per cent for the 17,000 cases they judicially consider per year,” he said.
Senator Griff has previously told The Australian he did not yet have a position on the bill.
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