Family Justice courts: Some results and plans
A pre-trial dispute resolution process called Child Inclusive Dispute Resolution saw 80 per cent of its 62 cases last year having at least one or all children’s issues settled by the time mediation was completed at the Child Focused Resolution Centre.
From 2012 to 2016, the percentage of divorce cases — including ancillaries — disposed of within the same year they were filed increased from 46 per cent to 74 per cent.
The number of cases that proceeded on to contested ancillary matters dropped from 524 out of 6,275 cases filed in 2012, to 429 out of 6,019 cases in 2014.
For high-conflict parenting situations, the Family Justice Courts will be widening the parenting coordination scheme to involve social-science practitioners
such as psychologists.
Today, the pool consists of 24 lawyers that the court can appoint to assist parents in the implementation of parenting orders such as child access arrangements.
In the second half of this year, the Family Justice Courts will extend a docketing system to all divorce cases which allows a single judge to deal with the case from start to finish.
And in July, a new Family Protection Centre in the Family Court will offer those exposed to family violence a more private environment where their personal protection order applications will be handled seamlessly.
A new IT system called iFams will allow parties to apply for personal protection orders either at the Family Court Registry or at family violence specialist centres.
