New Structure In The Federal Court System

The Federal Courts are going to undergo a restructure whereby:

• the Federal Magistrates Court will be merged into the Family Court and Federal Court;
• all family law matters will consolidated under the Family Court; and
• all general federal law matters will be consolidated under the Federal Court.

The Family Court will be the single Court dealing with all family law matters:

• The restructured Family Court will have two tiers;
• Family law matters will generally be heard initially in the second tier, with appeals and other complex matters being heard by the first tier;
• Existing judges of the Family Court will operate in the first tier;
• Federal Magistrates will operate in the second tier;
• Federal Magistrates incorporated into the Family Court will be renamed “judges”.

The Federal Court will be the single Court dealing with all general federal law matters:

• The restructured Federal Court will have two tiers;
• Appeals and other complex work will generally be heard in the first tier, with shorter, less complex matters redirected to the second tier;
• Existing judges of the Federal Court will operate in the first tier;
• Federal Magistrates will operate in the second tier;
• Upper and lower level Fair Work Divisions, which will hear matters under the Government’s new workplace relations system, will be maintained and will provide a single forum for employers and employees;
• Federal Magistrates who are appointed to the Federal Court will have expertise in general federal law matters and they will continue to be called “magistrates”.

Whilst there has been much discussion amongst the legal community about how this restructure will work, there are still a lot of unresolved questions which need to be addressed regarding the operation of the new Courts under the restructure.