Christian Porter promises to make family law move faster

Attorney-General Christian Porter expects to improve the efficiency of the family law system by up to a third.

Attorney-General Christian Porter aims to speed up the family-law system. Picture: AAP

The federal Attorney-General, Christian Porter, expects to improve the efficiency of the family law system by up to a third — ­allowing as many as 8000 more cases to be resolved a year — by ensuring families do not bounce between two courts and resolving most appeals using one judge instead of three.

However, family lawyer Carly Middleton said it was crucial any reform ensured specialist judges were used to resolve “high-risk, high-violence” family law disputes, involving complex issues such as sexual abuse.

“Without experience, mistakes can happen, and the wrong decisions can be made,” she said.

Ms Middleton, a partner at Barkus Doolan Family Lawyers, said delays in the family law system were worsening. Some of her clients, who had entered the system with newborns, now had those children at school.

 

“Something’s got to happen, but I’m not sure whether rolling appeals into the Federal Court is the answer,” she said yesterday, speaking ahead of the changes being announced. “We need more judges, we need matters to be heard in a more timely fashion and for litigants to be able to access the courts quickly.”

Mr Porter said he would “absolutely” ensure the new Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, to be created by merging the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court, would be “fully equipped with all the expertise it needs” for family law matters.

The Family Law Act currently requires judges appointed to the Family Court to be “suitable” to deal with family law cases “by reason of training, experience and personality”. Whether this requirement was retained in the new legislation would be dealt with in the drafting process, Mr Porter said.

He expects to improve efficiency by creating a single entry point to the system. About 1200 families a year bounce between the Family Court and the lower-level Federal Circuit Court, which both handle family law. Confusion about where cases should start results in families being transferred between courts — sometimes after months — forcing them to start again with different rules and procedures.

Mr Porter also expects to save judge time and slash the appeal division’s $500,000 annual travel bill by ensuring appeals are resolved more efficiently. While about 75 per cent of Family Court appeals are heard by three judges, in the Federal Court about 88 per cent are heard by just one judge — freeing more judges to hear disputes initially.