Federal Magistrates Court of Australia. Chief Executive Officer s Report

Transcription

1 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia Chief Executive Officer s Report

2 Family Law Courts Natioal Commuicatios GPO Box 9991, Caberra ACT 2601 Ph: Fax: commuicatio@familylawcourts.gov.au The iformatio i this report is iteded to capture the mai achievemets of the admiistratio of the Court over the fiacial year. It does ot iclude all work ad mior projects.

3 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia Chief Executive Officer s Report

4 Cotets Message from the Actig Chief Executive Officer 1 Federal magistrates 2 The Court s workload 4 Sigificat developmets 7 10 Year aiversary 12 Chages to the court s jurisdictio durig Access to justice 18 Iteratioal cooperatio 21 The Court s admiistratio 22 Rewards ad recogitio 27 Huma resources 29 Iformatio, Commuicatio ad Techology Services 33 Natioal commuicatios 40 Security 46 Property 48 Fiace 51 Budgets ad busiess improvemets 53 Risk maagemet ad procuremet 54 ii Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

5 Message from the Actig Chief Executive Officer This report outlies the major achievemets of the admiistratio of the Court over the fiacial year. Some of the highlights iclude: the fialisatio of the itegratio of the admiistratios of the two courts the restructure of cliet services the ew Federal Magistrates Court of Australia ad Family Court of Australia Eterprise Agreemet 2010 ehacemets ad growth i electroic filig the lauch of the Dadeog project the developmet of a protocol for the divisio of work betwee the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court completio of the courtroom techology project improvemets i the delivery of trascriptio services ogoig work i support of our Idigeous cliets, ad ogoig work ad iitiatives from the Youg Employees Advisory Group. Our work remais focussed o improvig access to the Court ad to this ed, the Court cotiues to review the circuit program to esure that judicial resources are appropriately targeted to demad ad that work is udertake i the cotext of greatest demad. Other areas highlightig our achievemets i improvig access to justice iclude: The Federal Magistrates Court (Victoria) Geelog Family Relatioship Cetre Collaboratio Pilot Project the Dadeog Project our work with self-represeted litigats, ad the provisio of iformatio products, brochures ad fact sheets through the Court s website ad the Family Law Courts website. The Court improved its budget performace icurrig a $2.201 millio operatig loss compared with a $5.005 millio operatig loss i The Court has achieved efficiecies i employee expediture through the combied admiistratio iitiative ad through targeted reductios i cotractors ad travel costs. Although we will cotiue to face ogoig fiacial pressure we are costatly seekig ew ad iovative ways to maage our fiacial resources i a efficiet ad effective maer. Thak you to all federal magistrates ad staff for your work ad commitmet to the Court. Richard Foster PSM Actig Chief Executive Officer Federal Magistrates Court of Australia Chief Executive Officer s Report

6 Federal magistrates At 30 Jue 2010, there were 21 female ad 40 male federal magistrates. Locatio Federal magistrates Australia Capital Territory 2 New South Wales 1 Chief Federal Magistrate 22 federal magistrates Norther Territory 1 Queeslad 12 South Australia 6 Tasmaia 2 Victoria 14 Wester Australia 1 Total 61 2 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

7 Appoitmets ad retiremets durig Federal Magistrate Domiica Whela appoited o 24 May Federal Magistrate Joseph Harma appoited o 7 Jue Federal Magistrate Leae Turer appoited o 7 Jue Federal Magistrate Judith Housego resiged o 31 July Federal Magistrate Jillia Orchisto resiged o 9 October Federal Magistrate Keith Wilso resiged o 28 February Federal Magistrate Burett appoited as Deputy Judge Advocate Geeral Pleary The Court s pleary was held i Sydey from September The pleary provided a opportuity for federal magistrates to discuss further developmets i the Court s future, exchage ideas ad participate i workshops. It was a wide ragig ad varied programme with a excellet rage of educatioal speakers. Speakers icluded the Hoourable Sir Laurece Street Mr Sady Street, SC Mr David Moagha Dr Matthew Gray Professor Richard Chisholm, AM the Hoourable Diaa Bryat the Hoourable Catherie Braso, QC Commader Justie Sauders Dave Watso the Hoourable Justice Mary Fi David Bergma Agela Ketas the Hoourable Justice Rares, ad the Hoourable Justice Beett. Chief Executive Officer s Report

8 The Court s workload Family law ad geeral federal law applicatios filed, Family law Total % of total Fial orders Iterim orders Divorce Other Total family law Migratio 1% Bakruptcy 6% Other (family) 3% Other (geeral federal) 1% Fial orders 18% Geeral federal law Total % of total Bakruptcy Migratio Other Total geeral federal law Grad total Divorce 51% Iterim orders 20% 4 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

9 Family law The Federal Magistrates Court s family law workload cotiued to grow i Overall, there was a 4.55 per cet icrease i the umber of applicatios filed. Family law filigs fialisatios Family law Filigs Fialisatios % chage % chage Fial orders Iterim orders Divorce applicatios Other (6) Total family law The Court cotiued to receive the bulk of family law applicatios filed i the two federal family law courts. Overall, the Court received 82 per cet of filigs atioally i family law. Durig : 59 per cet of family law applicatios related specifically to matters cocerig childre 9 per cet ivolved both childre ad property matters 31 per cet ivolved discrete property applicatios, ad the remaiig workload ivolved applicatios for cotravetio, cotempt ad eforcemet summoses. Divorce The Court s divorce workload icreased slightly i % chage Applicatios for divorce filed Applicatios for divorce fialised By arragemets with the Family Court, almost all divorce applicatios are filed i the Federal Magistrates Court. The divorce work is udertake by a mix of sessioal ad i-house registrars who hear the ucotested applicatios. Durig , a workig group reviewig divorce processes was formed as oe of a series of reviews established by the Policy Advisory Committee aimed at reducig operatig costs. Chief Executive Officer s Report

10 O 26 September 2009, the courts itroduced efilig (electroic filig) of divorce applicatios through the Commowealth Courts Portal. Sice its itroductio, there has bee a steady icrease i the umber of efiled divorce applicatios. While efilig does preset some operatioal impact at the registry level, there are also direct savigs, clear beefits to litigats ad opportuities for improved practices. From 3 February 2010, a ew divorce order replaced the certificate of divorce. Previously, a divorce certificate was issued whe a divorce order took effect; however, the ew divorce order icludes the certificatio that the divorce has take effect ad records relevat matters that the judicial officer takes ito accout whe makig a divorce order. The ew form was itroduced to address difficulties beig experieced by some overseas jurisdictios which required a record of the matters that the judicial officer took ito cosideratio. All divorce orders are ow geerated electroically ad iclude a electroic seal ad sigature ad registered users ca dowload a copy of the order oce it has take effect. The quality of the electroically geerated orders will cotiue to be ehaced durig The umber of cotested divorces is small ad very few go o to a federal magistrate for a cotested hearig. There are eve fewer divorce matters which go o appeal to the Family Court. However, the Full Court i Price & Uderwood (divorce appeal) [2009] FamCAFC 127 dismissed a appeal from all orders surroudig the gratig of a divorce (the husbad died oe day after the divorce order was made). The appeal court upheld the discretioary decisio of the trial judge to shorte the period i which the divorce order took effect ad the order appoitig a case guardia to brig the applicatio for divorce. Geeral federal law I geeral federal law the Court cotiues to deal with most migratio ad bakruptcy applicatios ad there is a icreasig idustrial law workload. The jurisdictioal limitatios o the Court i trade practice ad itellectual property could reduce the umber of filigs i these areas. Filigs i geeral federal law represet 7.5 per cet of all filigs i the Court. Geeral federal law filigs fialisatios Geeral federal law Filigs Fialisatios % chage % chage Bakruptcy Migratio (32) (31) Admiistrative law Admiralty law (36) Trade practices (21) (15) Copyright (7) (15) Huma rights (8) Idustrial Total geeral federal law (1) 6 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

11 Sigificat developmets Family law services review O 24 May 2010 the Attorey-Geeral, the Hoourable Robert McClellad MP, aouced the govermet s decisio about the restructure of the federal courts. This followed: March 2008: the Attorey-Geeral iitiated the Semple Review of the admiistratio ad delivery of family law services by the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court. November 2008: the Attorey-Geeral released a discussio paper, Future Goverace Optios for Federal Family Law Courts i Australia Strikig the Right Balace. May 2009: the Australia Govermet released its decisio o the future of the courts. The Attorey-Geeral aouced that the govermet proposed to merge the Federal Magistrates Court with the Family Court ad the Federal Court. At the ed of the fiacial year, the govermet had bee preparig legislatio to facilitate the merger ad had bee workig towards havig legislatio i place i the first part of However, the restructure was delayed due to the govermet cosiderig the implicatios of the High Court s decisio i Lae v Morriso. I terms of family law, o 24 May 2010 the Attorey-Geeral aouced that: The Federal Magistrates Court would be retaied to hear geeral federal law matters, with the Federal Court assumig resposibility for the admiistratio of the Federal Magistrates Court. The Family Court would be the sigle court dealig with all family law matters ad would be restructured ito two divisios. Federal magistrates exercisig mostly family law jurisdictio would be offered commissios i the Family Court. At the time of publicatio of this Report, Parliamet had bee prorogued ad the Bill as itroduced has lapsed. Chief Executive Officer s Report

12 Itegratio of Courts admiistratio As reported last year, i March 2009, i advace of the Govermet s decisio about the future of the courts, a pla to further itegrate the admiistratio of the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court was made by the Family Law Courts Advisory Group. This was doe to maximise the efficiecy ad resources of the courts ad to help address the challegig fiacial positio facig both courts. The itegratio of the admiistratios proceeded. The itegrated admiistratio cotiued to recogise that the two jurisdictios remaied as idepedet courts. I additio to the restructurig of registrar ad family cosultat resources, a umber of chages were made to regioal ad registry maagemet structures ad to cliet services withi registries. Sigle regioal ad registry maagemet structure The courts ow have a sigle regioal maagemet structure, maaged through four regios by four regioal registry maagers uder the leadership of the Executive Director Cliet Services: Mariae Christma, New South Wales/Australia Capital Territory James Cotta, Queeslad/Norther New South Wales Jae Reyolds, Victoria/Tasmaia, ad Greg Thomas, South Australia/Norther Territory. A ew positio of Busiess Developmet Maager was created durig the year, with resposibility for efilig ad Commowealth Courts Portal developmet, the Natioal Equiry Cetre ad the busiess systems developmet officers. A two-day plaig workshop for seior maagers of both courts was held i March The focus of discussios was critical issues affectig both courts, such as strategies for the combied admiistratio, budget strategies (icludig savigs optios), goverace, roles ad expectatios, ad key elemets of the chage process ecessary to esure a effective way forward. Cliet service maagemet restructure After cosultig with staff over several moths, the implemetatio of ew registry-level maagemet structures was completed i all registries i Jauary The ew structure icludes two arms judicial services ad registry services. Both arms provide localised ad itegrated maagemet arragemets to lead ad support the staff of both courts. Eterprise agreemet O 18 Jue 2010, Fair Work Australia approved the ew Federal Magistrates Court of Australia ad Family Court of Australia Eterprise Agreemet The agreemet was egotiated betwee the courts, the Commuity ad Public Sector Uio ad idividual staff bargaiig represetatives. It commeced o 25 Jue 2010, replacig the idividual collective agreemets of both courts. 8 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

13 The omial expiry date of the ew agreemet is 30 Jue However, uder preset arragemets the Agreemet will cotiue to operate after that date util replaced or formally termiated. It applies to all employees of the courts employed uder the Public Service Act 1999, other tha SES employees. The achievemet of the agreemet was a sigificat evet. It meas that withi the two courts, staff workig side-by-side doig similar work are employed uder the same terms ad coditios of employmet. It positios the courts for future developmets i the coduct of workplace relatios withi the govermet sector. The agreemet supports sigificat improvemets i the courts operatios to be achieved through the rage of corporate efficiecy/productivity measures produced followig reviews of child dispute services, judicial support, library ad guardig services, user pays optios, divorce processes ad procedures, icludig cociliatio cofereces, use of iterpreters, techology (video liks ad telecoferecig), circuits ad provisio of trascripts. The agreemet provides that i order to receive the salary icreases, or to progress from oe pay poit to the ext i the pay scale of a classificatio, a employee must participate i the courts performace maagemet ad developmet system (PMDS) ad be assessed as meetig requiremets or higher at or before the date of the pay icrease. Cocurret with the agreemet, maagemet strategies are beig developed aimed at esurig that staff turover rates ad staff abseces are withi APS best practice parameters ad are ot icosistet with averages idetified i the state of the service report. Protocol for the divisio of work betwee the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court I Jauary 2010, the Chief Federal Magistrate ad the Chief Justice of the Family Court published a protocol for the divisio of work betwee the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court. It provides guidace for legal practitioers ad litigats eablig matters to be directed properly to the court appropriate to hear them. The protocol may, o occasio, give way to the imperatives of where a case ca best be heard ad is ot iteded to costrai the discretio of a judicial officer havig regard to the applicable legislatio ad the facts ad circumstaces of the case. If ay oe of the followig criteria applies, the the applicatio for fial orders ordiarily should be filed ad/or heard i the Family Court, if judicial resources permit (otherwise the matter should be filed ad/or heard i the Federal Magistrate Court): iteratioal child abductio iteratioal relocatio disputes as to whether a case should be heard i Australia special medical procedures (such as geder reassigmet ad sterilisatio) cotravetio ad related applicatios i paretig cases relatig to orders which have bee made i Family Court proceedigs; which have reached a fial stage of hearig or a judicial determiatio ad which have bee made withi 12 moths prior to filig Chief Executive Officer s Report

14 serious allegatios of sexual abuse of a child warratig trasfer to the Magella list or similar list where applicable, ad serious allegatios of physical abuse of a child or serious cotrollig family violece warratig the attetio of a superior court complex questios of jurisdictio or law, ad if the matter proceeds to a fial hearig, it is likely it would take i excess of four days of hearig time. The Family Court has exclusive jurisdictio i relatio to adoptio ad the validity of marriages ad divorces. Either court o its ow motio or o applicatio of a party ca trasfer a matter to the other court. There is o right of appeal from a decisio as to trasfer. New subpoea process The Federal Magistrates Court Amedmet Rules 2009 (No 3) came ito effect o 30 November The amedmets itroduced ew rules i relatio to subpoeas with provisio for the release of documets produced for ispectio ad copyig without the eed for a listig before a judicial officer, where there is o objectio. The amedmets are aimed at reducig the umber of court appearaces ad the costs associated with the productio of subpoeaed documets whe there is o dispute. Review of family violece strategy Durig , the Chief Federal Magistrate ad Chief Justice of the Family Court coveed a joit Family Violece Committee to take ito cosideratio the relevat fidigs, observatios ad recommedatios of recet reports o family violece. Oe of the committee s tasks is to review the Family Court s Family Violece Strategy ad Best Practice Priciples for use i Paretig disputes whe family violece or child abuse is alleged (March 2009) to reflect the eeds of cliets i both federal family law courts. The documets represet a major commitmet by the courts i addressig family violece whe it is a issue for court cliets. De facto relatioship laws Sice 1 March 2009, de facto couples have bee able to access courts exercisig federal family law jurisdictio (such as the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court) i property ad maiteace cases. Sice the, ogoig staff traiig ad educatio has occurred. Geeral federal law elodgmet O 24 May 2010 the Federal Court released a ew olie electroic filig facility, elodgmet. This eables ay member of the public to electroically lodge geeral federal law documets with the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Federal Court. elodgmet may be used to commece a actio i either jurisdictio by eablig the lodgmet of iitiatig documets ad ay supportig documets. Similarly, documets about existig matters may be lodged via elodgmet if the file umber is kow. As the documet(s) remai accessible via elodgmet, users ca moitor the progress of their elodgmet(s) as well as review the processed documet(s) through their Lodgmet History. They ca access the sealed electroic versios of the documets should they require them to or prit out for service. 10 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

15 Complaits Durig , the Court received 116 complaits, which is comparable with complaits received durig the previous year. Complaits are categorised as follows: registry (5) judicial decisio (7) coduct of chambers (2) dispute resolutio (30) coduct of federal magistrates (22) coduct of legal represetative (4) eforcemet of court orders (1) legal process (6) delays (3) fiacial mediatio (3) divorce (1), ad overdue judgmets (32). Where possible, parties are advised to put their complaits i writig ad are able to their complait via the Court s customer service address. Copies of the Court s complaits policy ad judicial complaits policy are available from the Court s website ( Parties are also able to forward a complait about a delay i the delivery of a judgmet through the relevat state or territory law society or bar associatio. Chief Executive Officer s Report

16 10 year aiversary The Court celebrated its teth aiversary o 23 Jue I the late 1990s the cocept of establishig a lower level federal court was developed by the the govermet ad its Attorey-Geeral, Daryl Williams. The Federal Magistrates Court was i fact, Australia s first lower level federal court sice the passage of the Judiciary Act i Amid cotroversy ad a legal fraterity hardly embracig the idea of a ew court, the Federal Magistrates Court was bor. I the early days, the idetity of the Court was a little cofused as it was give two titles; the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Federal Magistrates Service. After a few years, the use of the term service was dropped. While the Court s idetity may have bee a little cofused, the purpose ad objective of the Court was ot. From day oe, the Federal Magistrates Court was give the madate to provide a simple ad accessible service for litigats ad to ease the workload of both the Family Court ad the Federal Court. That objective has bee held fast throughout the Court s life ad has well ad truly bee met. Adversity ad cotroversy (ad the odd review or two) has ever bee too far away, but some may say that it has bee from that adversity that a defiat, hardworkig ad strog orgaisatio has grow ad grow ad grow. From the origial 16 federal magistrates that served the Court i its first year, the Court ow has 61 federal magistrates, icludig the Chief Federal Magistrate. The Court is ow the largest federal trial court i Australia. The positive ad passioate culture of the Court that was established i its early years is very real ad cotiues today i the work doe by the judiciary ad staff. I describig the Court s culture, Chief Federal Magistrate Pascoe said, it is quite a uique culture that has bee developed over the past te years ad each of you should feel very proud of creatig such a positive ad hardworkig ethos. 12 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

17 It is a very good time to reflect o what has bee achieved ad about your cotributio ad service ot oly to the Court, but to the Australia commuity. I would specifically like to highlight the critical role that associates ad all other staff members have played i supportig the judiciary ad the Court i geeral. Some associates ad staff have bee with the Court for may years which reflects their dedicatio ad loyalty. Ofte workig uder immese pressure ad with miimal resources, associates ad staff have always rise to the challege ad provided terrific support to the Court ad for that, they should be cogratulated. The Hoourable Robert McClellad MP ad Chief Federal Magistrate Pascoe at a 10 year aiversary celebratio. Commemorative dvd A DVD celebratig the 10 year history of the Court is beig produced. It icludes iterviews with Chief Federal Magistrate Joh Pascoe; the Court s first Chief Federal Magistrate, Chief Justice Diaa Bryat (ow of the Family Court); ad others who have made a sigificat cotributio to the Court s history. The DVD will be provided to federal magistrates at the cocurret coferece to be held i October Additioal copies will also be provided to all registries. Chief Executive Officer s Report

18 10 year iterestig facts ad figures I the Court s first full year of operatio ( ) it received applicatios. This figure has ow almost tripled with the Court receivig applicatios durig The balace of family law work has evolved sigificatly sice the iceptio of the Federal Magistrates Court. Over 80 per cet of all family law applicatios (except those filed i WA) are filed i the Federal Magistrates Court. The Court deals with the majority of bakruptcy applicatios ad approximately 95 per cet of all migratio applicatios filed i the federal courts. I its family law jurisdictio i , the Court fialised approximately 85 per cet of matters withi 6 moths ad 95 per cet of all matters were fialised withi 12 moths. I the Court s geeral federal law jurisdictio i , the Court fialised approximately 88 per cet of matters withi 6 moths ad 96 per cet withi 12 moths. The Court coducted regular regioal circuits to 33 locatios durig I the Court sat i 21 circuit locatios o a regular basis. Several of these 21 locatios have sice become permaet locatios for sittig federal magistrates. Attedees at a 10 year aiversary fuctio held at the Sydey Registry (L to R): FM Mead, FM Altobelli, FM Doald, FM Hederso, FM Dukley, CFM Pascoe, FM Scarlett, Attorey-Geeral, the Hoourable Robert McClellad MP, FM Lloyd-Joes, FM Sexto, FM Brewster, FM Driver, FM Howard ad FM Nicholls. 14 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

19 Chages to the Court s jurisdictio durig O 24 Jue 2010, the Military Court of Australia Bill 2010 was itroduced ito Parliamet ad, if passed, will establish a ew Military Court of Australia. This court will replace the iterim system of military justice put i place followig the High Court s decisio i Lae v Morriso [2009] HCA 29. Judges of the Federal Court ad the Federal Magistrates Court may be offered dual commissios, however judicial officers must have Australia Defece Force experiece or kowledge. It is proposed that the Military Court will cosist of two divisios; the Geeral Divisio ad the Appellate ad Superior Divisio. The origial jurisdictio will be exercised by a sigle federal magistrate i the Geeral Divisio with serious service offeces heard by a sigle judge i the Appellate ad Superior Divisio. The govermet aouced that the proposed Military Court of Australia would form part of a restructured federal court system to be implemeted through the Access to Justice (Family Court Restructure ad Other Measures) Bill This bill was itroduced ito Parliamet at the same time as the legislatio to establish the Military Court. This Bill aims to establish the Family Court as the sigle court dealig with all family law matters. It is proposed to remove the family law jurisdictio of the Federal Magistrates Court by creatig a ew divisio of the Family Court to which federal magistrates exercisig family law jurisdictio will be offered ew commissios. The Federal Magistrates Court would cotiue to hear geeral federal law matters. At the time of publicatio of this Report, Parliamet had bee prorogued ad the Bills as itroduced have lapsed. Chief Executive Officer s Report

20 Natioal Cosumer Credit Protectio Act 2009, Natioal Cosumer Credit Protectio (Trasitioal ad Cosequetial Provisios) Act 2009 ad the Natioal Cosumer Credit Protectio (Fees) Act 2009 ( Credit Acts ) These acts implemet the first phase of the ew Cosumer Credit scheme followig a decisio to trasfer cosumer credit regulatio to the Commowealth. The Credit Acts establish the key compoets of the atioal credit regime ad iclude: a comprehesive licesig regime for those egaged i credit activities by way of the Australia Credit Licece. This is admiistered by the Australia Securities ad Ivestmets Commissio (ASIC) idustry-wide resposible ledig coduct requiremets for licesees improved sactios ad ehaced eforcemet powers for the regulator, ad ehaced cosumer protectio through dispute resolutio mechaisms, court processes ad remedies. From 1 July 2010 the Federal Magistrates Court, the Federal Court ad State ad Territory courts are able to exercise federal jurisdictio i relatio to claims brought uder the legislatio. The Persoal Property Securities Act 2009 ad the Persoal Property Securities (Cosequetial Amedmets) Act 2009 received Royal Asset o 14 December The aim of the legislatio is to facilitate the establishmet of a sigle atioal regime for secured ledig over persoal property. The Act cofers jurisdictio o a umber of courts, icludig the Federal Magistrates Court, where there is a jurisdictioal limit of a award of damages that does ot exceed $ Full implemetatio of the atioal regime is depedet upo the passage of referral legislatio by the states. Amedmets to the Federal Magistrates Court Rules 2001 Federal Magistrates Court Amedmet Rules 2009 (No 3) The amedmets came ito effect o 30 November 2009 ad itroduced ew rules about subpoeas ad the release of documets produced for ispectio ad copyig without the eed for a listig before a judicial officer, where there is o objectio. The amedmets aim to reduce the umber of court appearaces for productio of subpoeaed documets whe there is o dispute. Amedmets to the Federal Magistrates Court (Bakruptcy) Rules 2006 Federal Magistrates Court (Bakruptcy) Amedmet Rules 2009 (No 1) The amedmets came ito effect o 30 November 2009 ad iclude miscellaeous amedmets to the Federal Magistrates Court Bakruptcy Rules 2006 i order to make a mior amedmet to the ote o Form 7 ad the referece to Rule 2.03 o Form Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

21 Amedmets to the Federal Magistrates Regulatios 2000 Federal Magistrates Court Amedmet Regulatios 2009 (No 2) The purpose of the amedmet was to remove redudat refereces to the Workplace Relatios Act I additio, the regulatios clarified that the Fair Work Act 2009 court applicatios prescribed i the Regulatios, which attract a reduced fee, are ot subject to ay other court fees, such as a settig-dow ad bieial icrease. The fee for the Fair Work Act court applicatios prescribed by the Regulatios is set by the Fair Work Regulatios This fee is adjusted aually accordig to a idexatio factor based o the cosumer price idex. The amedmets commeced retrospectively from 1 July Federal Magistrates Amedmet Regulatios 2010 (No 1) The Federal Magistrates Regulatios 2000 provide for automatic bieial icreases i fees. (Such icreases took effect o 1 July 2010 at the same time as ew amouts arisig out of savig proposals aouced by the govermet i the Budget took effect.) These measures icluded specific icreases i applicatio fees for divorce, family law matters ad bakruptcy. The Regulatios also itroduced a ew hearig fee i additio to the settig dow fee whe matters ru for more tha oe day. The Fair Work Act 2009 coferred small claims jurisdictio o the Court from 1 Jauary 2010 for various idustrial matters up to a value of $ Icluded i these amedmets was a amedmet to the fee schedule i the Federal Magistrates Regulatios 2000 to implemet reduced fees for applicatios beig brought through small claims proceedigs, effective from 1 July Chief Executive Officer s Report

22 Access to justice Circuit program The Court aims to provide access to justice for every Australia regardless of geographic locatio ad to do so i a timely ad efficiet maer. To this ed, the Court has regular circuit visits to rural ad regioal locatios across Australia. This eables parties to have their matters heard locally, thereby avoidig the eed to travel to major cetres. Durig the Court sat i 33 rural ad regioal locatios ad cotiued to review the circuit program to esure that judicial resources were appropriately targeted to demad. Publicatio of judgmets While the Federal Magistrates Court produces judgmets over a broad rage of jurisdictios, i previous years geeral federal law decisios were defiitely the majority of the workload, particularly migratio. The past fiacial year however, has resulted i family law judgmets outumberig ay other jurisdictio. It is the policy of the Federal Magistrates Court that all family law judgmets be aoymised i accordace with sectio 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 if beig uploaded to the AustLII website. Of the 1209 family law judgmets haded dow by federal magistrates, 435 of these were aoymised which icluded 28 Social Security Appeals Tribual (SSAT) appeal decisios relatig to child support. All SSAT appeal decisios are published to the AustLII website geeral federal law decisios were haded dow by federal magistrates durig the fiacial year There has bee a further reductio i geeral federal law appeals from 588 i to 423 i judgmets were published i law reports durig this fiacial year. 18 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

23 Dadeog project The Dadeog registry is triallig a ew approach to maagig family law proceedigs this year. The registry commeced the Dadeog project o 1 Jauary 2010 with the visio to deliver justice i a way that better meets the eeds of litigats i the Dadeog regio. If successful, the iitiatives will be rolled out through registries Australia wide. The project aims to esure that every court evet adds value, is costructive ad advaces the matter towards resolutio, said project sposor Federal Magistrate Bauma. A iformatio ad educatio sessio was held o 27 Jauary at the Dadeog registry to provide local practitioers ad other iterested parties with iformatio about the project. The first iformatio sessio attracted aroud 100 guests who provided costructive ad positive feedback about the pilot program. The project has also geerated a lot of iterest amogst Dadeog s legal professio, with the attedace at the iformatio sessio surpassig all our expectatios. Dadeog has previously bee a circuit locatio with federal magistrates sittig o a rotatioal basis. Throughout 2010 three federal magistrates will be residet i Dadeog to ehace practice cosistecy ad eable all matters to be idividually case maaged through a docket system. A triage process will be itroduced to direct litigats to the most appropriate pathway for their persoal circumstaces. Procedural orders will be produced i court ad will be available to litigats o the same day as their court evet. New compliace arragemets will be itroduced to esure matters are ready to proceed o the day they are listed. A greater ad more flexible rage of dispute resolutio optios will be available. Two family cosultats will be available o duty days to assist federal magistrates. The Dadeog case-load is characterised by a high proportio of self-represeted litigats. Providers of commuity legal assistace will be available i the registry to assist litigats o duty days. Represetatives from family support orgaisatios ad local providers of commuity-based dispute resolutio will be preset i the registry to lik parties to appropriate commuity services. The Dadeog project was officially lauched by the Attorey-Geeral, the Hoourable Robert McClellad MP o 6 July Chief Executive Officer s Report

24 Idigeous workig group established I May 2009, the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court established a Idigeous workig group. The group collect research data ad iformatio to help idetify how the courts ca ehace relatioships ad respect for Idigeous Australias. The Idigeous workig group cosider issues such as: the impact of the shift of the provisio of Idigeous services to Family Relatioship Cetres (previously provided by the Idigeous Family Liaiso Officers) how to maage applicatios for paretig orders relatig to traditioal adoptio practices by Torres Strait Isladers (Kupai Omasker) how to better meet the eeds of Idigeous cliets by esurig iformatio is provided to all staff ad Idigeous cliets, ad the developmet of a Recociliatio Actio Pla. The Recociliatio Actio Pla will idetify how the courts will ehace relatioships with Idigeous Australias. It will iclude areas such as buildig relatioships with the Idigeous commuity, staff educatio, attractig ad retaiig Idigeous staff ad esurig that judges ad family cosultats have access to appropriate expertise to deal with Idigeous families. The members of the Idigeous workig group are Justice Bejami ad Federal Magistrate Doald. Commuity relatios I 2008 the Court iitiated the Federal Magistrates Court (Victoria) Geelog Family Relatioship Cetre (FRC) Collaboratio Pilot Project. The pilot project placed key staff from the Geelog FRC at the Court durig the family law circuits i November 2008 ad March, May ad August 2009.The FRC duty workers were resposible for providig a iformatio table ad beig available to legal represetatives ad cliets to aswer queries. The primary objectives of the pilot project were twofold: to explore ways i which the FRC could provide direct support to the Federal Magistrates Court, through more effective processes to move families closer to resolutio of their matters, ad to ehace cross-sector collaboratio ad service delivery itegratio, with the FRC operatig as a gateway to other commuity service providers ad a iformatio poit for self-represeted litigats, court cliets ad local legal practitioers. The evaluatio report, fialised i November 2009, highlights the potetial for FRCs to play a valuable role i case maagemet, by cosultig with legal practitioers ad remaiig egaged with both the Court ad cliets throughout the dispute resolutio ad court process. The Dadeog project has established similar relatioships with Victoria Family Pathways ad local FRCs. 20 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

25 Iteratioal cooperatio Japaese delegatio At the Lawasia coferece i Sigapore i May 2009 a group of Japaese lawyers met with Federal Magistrate Howard ad Perth lawyer, Mr Adrew Davies. The Japaese lawyers sought assistace i relatio to a proposed study tour to Australia. The lawyers were all members of the Japa Federatio of Bar Associatios. They were particularly iterested i observig the role of a Idepedet Childre s Lawyer (ICL). O 26 October 2009, ie members of the Japaese delegatio atteded a sessio coducted by Legal Aid i Sydey. The lawyers received istructio i relatio to the role of a ICL. This sessio was orgaised with the kid assistace of Ms Mauree Schull from the Family Law Sectio of the Law Coucil of Australia. O 27 October 2009, the delegates visited the Family Law Courts, Sydey registry to observe a paretig case beig heard before Federal Magistrate Howard. With the assistace of Chief Federal Magistrate Joh Pascoe ad Justice Fowler of the Family Court, the courts hosted a morig tea for the delegates which was atteded by federal magistrates ad Family Court judges. The delegates ited lobbyig i Japa for the implemetatio of a ICL system similar to that which operates i Australia. Iteratioal Associatio of Refugee Law Judges Coferece The Australasia Chapter of the Iteratioal Associatio of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ) coducted its regioal coferece i Sydey o 12 February The coferece brought together Associatio members from Australia, New Zealad, Idia, Japa ad South Korea ad provided a ivaluable opportuity to cotiue to drive the chapter s Asia outreach programme. The coferece ageda was both stimulatig ad challegig, with sessios o assessmets of bad faith, complemetary protectio ad differig approaches to refugee status determiatio i the Asia Pacific regio. Seior judges from Idoesia, Idia ad the Uited States of America participated ad key academics from Australia, New Zealad ad the Uited States of America preseted at the coferece. The coferece was preceded by a two-day traiig workshop i refugee law for decisio makers from the regio. All stayed o for the coferece as observers, providig the opportuity for members to develop ew relatioships with key decisio makers. The Australasia Chair of the IARLJ is Federal Magistrate Rolf Driver who chaired the discussio o bad faith. The coferece was also atteded by Federal Magistrates Riley ad Burchardt. Chief Executive Officer s Report

26 The Court s admiistratio The Court is a federal court of record ad a court of law ad equity. It sits i all capital cities ad selected major regioal cetres. Staff of the Court Court staff are employed uder the Public Service Act At 30 Jue 2010, the Court had 162 employees covered by the Collective Agreemet ad Australia Workplace Agreemets (excludig judicial officers, the Actig Chief Executive Officer ad casual employees). This compared with 198 employees at 30 Jue 2009, beig a decrease of 36 employees. Most staff are employed i the chambers of federal magistrates. Each federal magistrate is supported by two employees, who udertake the admiistrative resposibilities associated with the day-to-day maagemet of chambers ad court, icludig duties required i the courtroom. Seior executives At 30 Jue 2010, the Court s pricipal executive group comprised: Richard Foster PSM, Actig Chief Executive Officer Mr Foster PSM was appoited Actig Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Magistrates Court o 25 November The Chief Executive Officer has the resposibilities ad powers of a agecy head for the purposes of the Public Service Act 1999 ad the resposibilities of a chief executive of a agecy uder the Fiacial Maagemet ad Accoutability Act Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

27 Steve Agew, Actig Deputy Chief Executive Officer The Deputy Chief Executive Officer is resposible for the delivery of court services ad admiistrative fuctios. Grahame Harriott, Actig Chief Fiace Officer The Chief Fiace Officer has resposibility for all fiacial maagemet, reportig, budgetig, cost aalysis, taxatio ad fiacial processig for the Court. Adele Byre PSM, Pricipal Registrar The Court s Pricipal Registrar supports the judicial fuctioig of the Court through the provisio of high-level legal ad procedural advice withi the Court. Federal Magistrates Court orgaisatioal structure Federal Magistrates ad Judicial Committees Chief Federal Magistrate Chief Executive Officer Deputy Chief Executive Officer Pricipal Registrar Executive Director Cliet Services Executive Director Iformatio Commuicatio ad Techology Chief Fiace Officer Marshal ad Security Services Judgmet Publicatio Registries Commuicatios Fiace Applicatios Huma Resources Iformatio Maagemet Property ad Cotracts Ifrastructure Budgets ad busiess improvemets Statistics Procuremet ad Risk Maagemet Chief Executive Officer s Report

28 Family cosultats ad registrars review ad restructure Early i , Des Semple ad Associates completed a review of family cosultats ad registrars. The review had the followig terms of referece: Review the curret maagemet structure ad processes of family cosultat ad registrar services ad advise o the appropriate goverace ad maagemet structure for the future provisio of these services to the Family Court ad Federal Magistrates Court, recogisig the separate case maagemet processes ad procedures of the two courts. Recommed the future quatum of family cosultat ad registrar resources for future allocatio to the Family Court ad Federal Magistrates Court o the proportio of the umber of cases fialised by both courts. Propose maagemet systems that esure trasparet ad dedicated allocatio of resources to both courts accordig to the umber of case matters fialised. Propose the maagemet templates ad executive iformatio maagemet reports that accurately moitor case maagemet outcomes accordig to the predetermied resource allocatios. I August 2009, the Chief Federal Magistrate, the Chief Justice of the Family Court ad actig Chief Executive Officer approved recommedatios o the trasfer of resources arisig from the Semple review. Family cosultats I October 2009, a sigle maagemet structure was itroduced ad the first allocatio of dedicated family cosultat ad registrar resources was made for the Federal Magistrates Court. The ew structure replaced the previous positios of Maager Child Dispute Services with Regioal Coordiators i Brisbae, Melboure ad Sydey. Deputy Maagers Child Dispute Services were replaced by six ew Seior Family Cosultat positios at these same registries, with three assiged to each court to maage the pool of available resources. A additioal six Seior Family Cosultats will be located i North Queeslad, Newcastle, Parramatta, Adelaide, Caberra ad Hobart. Resources cotiue to be moved betwee the courts to meet the eeds of the judiciary ad cliets. Registrars I the family law cotext, the regioal maagemet ad appeals structure of registrars was maitaied. I October 2009 a predetermied level of registrar resources for each locatio was decided, to be made available through the pool of registrars i each locatio. I the geeral federal law cotext, registrar resources are made available by the Federal Court ad udertake mediatio ad delegated judicial powers o behalf of the Court. The use of registrar resources to support both courts was ogoig at 30 Jue Resource allocatio At 30 Jue 2010, the maagemet iformatio reportig cotiued its developmet. It is a essetial tool for accurately determiig the distributio of the available family cosultat ad registrar resources. The trasitio to the ew arragemets for both family cosultats ad registrars is aother key step i esurig the success of the sigle admiistratio. The ogoig maagemet of resources will be achieved at a regioal level through a trasparet maagemet process that will be moitored ad regularly reported to the Family Law Courts Advisory Group. 24 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

29 Seate estimate committee hearigs Seior Executive Service staff of the Court atted Seate estimate committee hearigs to aswer questios about the Court s activities. I , 13 Seate estimate questios o otice were received ad aswered. Ceo s Maagemet Advisory Group Each year, membership of the CEO s Maagemet Advisory Group (CMAG) is reviewed by the CEO ad ew members are ivited to participate. Chaired by the CEO of the Family Court ad Actig CEO of the Federal Magistrates Court, Richard Foster, the group meets every six to eight weeks ad comprises: Actig Deputy CEO; Executive Director Iformatio, Commuicatio ad Techology Services; Actig Executive Director Cliet Services; a regioal registry maager represetative; the Executive Director Corporate; with support provided by the Executive Advisor to the CEO. Areas for discussio or decisio over the fiacial year icluded: savigs iitiatives review of registry maagemet structures ad duplicatio of admiistratio review of access to justice ACG policy statemet Comcare issues efilig evirometal policy YEAG merger of court admiistratio closer coordiatio with AGD huma resources, property, procuremet ad risk, ad courtroom techology (audio ad video). Miutes from each CMAG meetig are ow provided to the Policy Advisory Committee. Emergecy or overflow judgmet typig The Federal Magistrates Court judgmets office was set up as a authorised user of Auscript s olie orderig system, Trascript Express. Urget judgmets which have bee dictated by federal magistrates as audio files (Olympus etc.) ca ow be set to the judgmets publicatio office to be typed ad retured o template, withi the timelie specified. This service was previously provided by NTS, but has moved to Auscript. It is importat to ote that this service is to be used oly i the case of emergecies, such as whe chambers staff are abset, or the amout of judgmets to be typed exceeds the ability of associates to produce i a timely maer. Judgmets will be retured as Word documets ready for isertio of citatio umber, catchwords ad fial details. Chief Executive Officer s Report

30 Youg Employees Advisory Group The YEAG icluded ie employees aged 27 years or youger from both the Federal Magistrates Court ad the Family Court. Throughout their year-log ivolvemet, the YEAG had the assistace of a metor ad project coordiator from the courts executive. The ivolvemet of seior staff is itegral to the developmet of projects that could be achieved i a short timeframe ad beefit the courts ito the future. Members of the group icluded: Chris Vogelsiger, Natioal Equiry Cetre Roby Birch, Huma Resources (Natioal Support Office) Rachel Paye, Family Court Judgmet Publicatios Office (Melboure) Tijaa Petkovic, Family Court Chambers (Newcastle) James Gastee, Federal Magistrates Court Chambers (Brisbae) April Grequist, Federal Magistrates Court Chambers (Melboure) Amada Morris, Federal Magistrates Court Chambers (Parramatta) Rory Barclay, Registry Services (Cairs), ad Kristy Freeme, Registry Services (Brisbae). The courts are ot aware of ay similar group i other Australia public sector orgaisatios ad hope the group s success will prompt other orgaisatios to cosider settig up similar iitiatives. The YEAG achievemets durig icluded: Eviromet guidelies ad iitiatives aimed at reducig the courts impact o the eviromet, icludig the developmet of a evirometal resposibility policy statemet that was released to all staff i Jauary Electroic techologies developig a busiess case to explore use of SMS ad techology. Phase oe of the project will develop the capacity to message applicats who opt i to a service which cofirms by SMS that their divorce applicatio has bee grated. Other opportuities for usig the techology are beig cosidered, such as remiders to cliets of a upcomig court evet. The aim of the project will be to deliver better cliet service ad reduce court costs. These messages will ot replace formal commuicatio. Staff developmet promotig developmet programs available to staff, which icludes a brief olie survey to obtai staff views o the most effective ways to commuicate developmet opportuities ad to raise staff awareess of the developmet opportuities available. The youg employees completed desig of the survey. The maager of Huma Resources has committed to dissemiatio of the survey to all staff early i ad to report to the staff developmet committee o the results. 26 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia

31 Rewards ad recogitio The Court recogises ad rewards staff achievemets, cotributios ad iovatios. Australia Day achievemet medallios The Australia Day medallios recogise staff who have made a exceptioal cotributio to the work of the Court over the past year, or have give outstadig service over a umber of years. This year s wiers were aouced i Jauary by the (the) Actig Chief Federal Magistrate Michael Bauma. Maria Darmai, PDR Services Melboure Maria was recogised for her dedicatio to the provisio of Primary Dispute Resolutio (PDR) services. Maria commeced with the Federal Magistrates Court i October 2003 ad has played a sigificat role i the developmet, implemetatio ad maiteace of the systems ad processes used to support PDR. Steve Taylor, Chambers of the Chief Federal Magistrate Steve was recogised for the excellet support that he has provided the chambers of the Chief Federal Magistrate. Steve started with the Federal Magistrates Court over two years ago ad has provided support throughout a very demadig period of time for the Court. Chief Executive Officer s Report