What does the Federal Circuit Court do?

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFC) commenced operation on 1 September 2021.

The FCFC brings together the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia under a unified administrative structure. Each court continues to exist as divisions of the FCFC.

Visit the FCFC website

Benefits of the reforms

The Australian Government introduced this structural reform of the federal family law courts to address problems with the previous court structure.

The overlapping family law jurisdiction between the previous Family Court and Federal Circuit Court of Australia (FCC) led to significant inefficiencies, confusion, delays, additional costs and unequal experiences for many families. This resulted in poor outcomes for some children and families, including those affected by family violence.

The new court structure will help Australian families resolve their disputes faster by improving the efficiency of the family law system, reducing the backlog of matters before the family law courts, and driving faster, cheaper and more consistent dispute resolution.

The government’s reforms have:

• established a single point of entry for federal family law matters
• established a single set of court rules, forms, practices, and procedures
• strengthened judicial appointment criteria
• streamlined the family law appeals pathway.

Structure of the FCFC

The FCFC comprises 2 divisions:

• The FCFC (Division 1) is a continuation of the Family Court of Australia.
• The FCFC (Division 2) is a continuation of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

As such, the FCFC preserves the cohort of judges of the previous Family Court and Federal Circuit Court, including their extensive family law and family violence expertise.

The FCFC operates under the leadership of one Chief Justice with the support of one Deputy Chief Justice, who each hold a dual commission to both Divisions of the FCFC. There is also a second Deputy Chief Judge (General and Fair Work) of the FCFC (Division 2).

The FCFC (Division 1) deals only with family law matters, while the FCFC (Division 2) deals with both family law and general federal law matters. The previous FCC’s general federal law jurisdiction and fair work jurisdiction has not been impacted by the establishment of the FCFC, with no changes to the previous appeal pathway. The Fair Work Division of the previous FCC has been retained in the FCFC (Division 2).

To ensure the continued existence of the previous Family Court, the legislation mandates that a minimum of 25 judges must be appointed to the FCFC (Division 1). This figure includes the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice of Division 1 but does not include judges who are also judges of the Family Court of Western Australia.

Judicial expertise

People appointed to either division of the FCFC will need to satisfy additional appointment criteria to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge, skills, experience and aptitude to deal with the types of matters coming before them. Where these matters are family law matters, this includes matters involving family violence.

Case management approach

The FCFC has a single point of entry for all family law matters. All federal family law matters will be filed in the FCFC (Division 2).

Judges and registrars will lead a common case management approach for all matters. Urgent and high risk cases will continue to be prioritised, and all cases will be allocated at the earliest possible point to the most appropriate judge in the most appropriate division.

Once a matter has been allocated to the most appropriate division, only the Chief Justice or Chief Judge will be able to transfer it between divisions.

Rules of court

The Chief Justice and Chief Judge are obliged to work cooperatively to ensure common rules of court and forms, and common practices and procedures across both divisions of the FCFC.

The Chief Justice and Chief Judge have the power to make the rules of court for their respective divisions for the first 18 months after the new court structure commences. After this, the power will revert back to judges or a majority of judges of each respective division. Any proposed rules of court after this 18 month period cannot be made if the Chief Justice or Chief Judge considers they are inconsistent with the aim of ensuring common rules of court and forms.

The Chief Justice and Chief Judge have made a single set of harmonised court rules for family law and child support matters that will apply to both divisions of the FCFC.

This approach will provide families with greater certainty about how their disputes will be resolved, enabling information to be readily available about what to expect and when, and providing an earlier sense of the likely time and cost implications of lodging a family law application.

Appeals

The FCFC (Division 1) retains jurisdiction to hear family law appeals. However, there is no Appeal Division in the FCFC (Division 1). All FCFC (Division 1) judges are able to hear appeals either as a single judge or as part of a Full Court.

All appeals of FCFC (Division 2) and Family Law Magistrates of Western Australia decisions will be heard by a single judge, unless the Chief Justice of the FCFC (Division 1) considers it appropriate for the appeal to be heard by a Full Court.

This will help the FCFC to:

• hear more matters each year
• reduce the backlog in first instance family law matters
• reduce median case waiting times.

There are no changes to the rights to appeal as previously provided for under the Family Law Act 1975.

Transitional arrangements

Transitional arrangements are in place for proceedings that were before the courts when the reforms commenced to ensure they are dealt with as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The Federal Court of Australia was created by the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and began to exercise its jurisdiction on 1 February 1977.

The Court is a superior court of record and a court of law and equity. It sits in all capital cities and elsewhere in Australia from time to time. 

The Court's workload is organised into nine National Practice Areas (NPAs). Further information on the NPAs can be found under National Court Framework.

Objectives

The objectives of the Court are to:

• Decide disputes according to law - promptly, courteously and effectively and, in so doing, to interpret the statutory law and develop the general law of the Commonwealth, so as to fulfil
  the role of a court exercising the judicial power of the Commonwealth under the Constitution

• Provide an effective registry service to the community, and

• Manage the resources allotted by Parliament efficiently.

The Court’s jurisdiction

The Court’s jurisdiction is broad, covering almost all civil matters arising under Australian federal law and some summary and indictable criminal matters.

Central to the Court’s civil jurisdiction is s 39B(1A)c of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth). This jurisdiction includes cases created by a federal statute, and extends to matters in which a federal issue is properly raised as part of a claim or of a defence and to matters where the subject matter in dispute owes its existence to a federal statute.

The Court has jurisdiction under the Judiciary Act to hear applications for judicial review of decisions by officers of the Commonwealth. Many cases also arise under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (ADJR Act) which provides for judicial review of most administrative decisions made under Commonwealth enactments on grounds relating to the legality, rather than the merits, of the decision. The Court also hears appeals on questions of law from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. This jurisdiction falls under the Administrative and Constitutional Law and Human Rights National Practice Area (NPA) which also includes complaints about unlawful discrimination no longer being dealt with by the Australian Human Rights Commission and matters concerning the Australian Constitution.

The Court hears taxation matters on appeal from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. It also exercises a first instance jurisdiction to hear objections to decisions made by the Commissioner of Taxation.

The Court shares first instance jurisdiction with the Supreme Courts of the states and territories in the complex area of intellectual property (copyright, patents, trademarks, designs and circuit layouts). All appeals in these cases, including appeals from the Supreme Courts, are to a full Federal Court.

Another significant part of the Court's jurisdiction derives from the Native Title Act 1993 (NTA). The Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine native title determination applications and to be responsible for their mediation, to hear and determine revised native title determination applications, compensation applications, claim registration applications, applications to remove agreements from the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements and applications about the transfer of records. The Court also hears appeals from the NNTT and matters filed under the ADJR Act involving native title.

A further important area of jurisdiction for the Court derives from the Admiralty Act 1988. The Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Supreme Courts of the states and territories to hear maritime claims under this Act. Ships coming into Australian waters may be arrested for the purpose of providing security for money claimed from ship owners and operators. If security is not provided, a judge may order the sale of the ship to provide funds to pay the claims.

The Court has jurisdiction under the Fair Work Act 2009, Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 and related industrial legislation, including matters to be determined under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 in accordance with the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009.

The Court's jurisdiction under the Corporations Act 2001 and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 covers a diversity of matters ranging from the appointment of provisional liquidators and the winding up of companies, to applications for orders in relation to fundraising, corporate management and misconduct by company officers. The jurisdiction is exercised concurrently with the Supreme Courts of the states and territories.

The Court exercises jurisdiction under the Bankruptcy Act 1966. It has power to make sequestration (bankruptcy) orders against persons who have committed acts of bankruptcy and to grant bankruptcy discharges and annulments. The Court's jurisdiction includes matters arising from the administration of bankrupt estates.

Cases arising under Part IV (restrictive trade practices) and Schedule 2 (the Australian Consumer Law) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 constitute a significant part of the workload of the Court. These cases often raise important public interest issues involving such matters as mergers, misuse of market power, exclusive dealings or false advertising.

Since late 2009, the Court has also had jurisdiction in relation to indictable offences for serious cartel conduct. This jurisdiction falls under the Federal Crime and Related Proceedings NPA together with summary prosecutions and criminal appeals and other related matters.

The Court has a substantial and diverse appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from decisions of single judges of the Court, and from the Federal Circuit and Family Court in non-family law matters and from other courts exercising certain federal jurisdiction.

The Court also exercises general appellate jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters on appeal from the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island.

This summary refers only to some of the principal areas of the Court's work.