New family law Registrars provide additional expertise and resources to Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court

The Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (the Courts) announce the appointment of 42 experienced family law practitioners to provide significant support to family law Judges across Australia. These appointments form part of a widespread recruitment campaign which commenced last year, and is ongoing. The registrar resources will play an enhanced role in the new family law case management pathway which will be introduced on 1 September when the amalgamated Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia commences.

Senior Judicial Registrars, Judicial Registrars and Deputy Registrars will undertake enhanced duties and roles in the early stage of proceedings, which will alleviate some of the burden on Judges and enable them to direct significantly more of their time to the hearing and determination of complex interim applications and final hearings.

The Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, the Hon Will Alstergren, said these appointments will assist in delivering some of the Courts' major goals of reducing delays nationally, identifying risk early, and improving access to justice to people living in regional locations.

As part of the Courts' support for Australian families in regional locations, the Courts are pleased to be able to provide an additional registrar resource to four key locations in North Queensland and the NSW Far North Coast; with registrars placed in each of Townsville, Cairns, Rockhampton and Lismore.

Two new Judicial Registrars and a Deputy Registrar have also been appointed to provide additional support to the Newcastle registry which, together with existing resources, sees an increase from 2 registrars to 7 registrars.

Two further registrars will be based in Hobart to assist in supporting Tasmania, and a further registrar will support each of Wollongong and Canberra. Details are listed below.

"The new registrars are all family law specialists with significant skill and experience. The appointments include senior and highly respected members of the profession including barristers, special counsel, senior solicitors, and a Magistrate, and many who are also accredited mediators. They have all stepped forward to enthusiastically join the new Court in its endeavour to develop a modern, world-leading family law court system that focuses on risk, responsiveness and resolution.

"The depth of skill and experience of this cohort of family law practitioners demonstrates support for our family law court system, and a sense of energy and momentum amongst the profession who wish to contribute and make a significant difference in how we deal with family law disputes in Australia.

"I sincerely welcome them all to the Courts. I also acknowledge the role that David Pringle, the Courts' Chief Executive Officer and Principal Registrar, his staff and our corporate team, have played in securing the necessary resources provided by the Commonwealth Government which has enabled these appointments and will ultimately, benefit the litigants who come before the Courts," the Chief Justice added.

"The provision of over $100 million in recent Commonwealth Government funding is appropriate recognition of the challenging position that the Courts have faced over recent years due to under-resourcing, and the unsustainable burden that has placed on our Judges, particularly in the Federal Circuit Court.

"We are confident of ongoing funding and the appointment of Judges to fill current vacancies, and newly created judicial positions, and we will continue to discuss with Government the importance of further resources to support family violence-related and other key initiatives to further improve the court system," the Chief Justice said.

The new appointments significantly strengthen the number of registrars nationally, and, along with additional Judges, Court Child Experts, Indigenous Liaison Officers, and associated support staff this will assist the Court in reducing backlogs and waiting times.

Details of recent registrar appointments are listed in the following table.

Note: Registrars will be able to support other locations beyond their primary registry according to the operational needs of the Court. This list does not include internal court appointments. Biographical details are available to media upon request.