COVID-19: Family Law and the Courts
April 6, 2020 / Family Law
Both the
Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia are adapting to the
restrictions required to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Courts are still
open and operating; however, the way hearings and other matters are handled
have changed as follows:
Hearings
- Almost all hearings are being
heard either via video conferencing or by telephone between the Judge and
Lawyers. You do not need to attend Court.
- If in a rare case you do need
to attend Court perhaps for a children’s matter, then processes relating to
social distancing have been put in place.
Trials
- Trials that were listed for
hearing in the next few months have now been vacated. Towards the end of July,
the Court will review the position with COVID19 and the Trial list.
Conferences
and mediations
- These are also being conducted
either via video conferencing or telephone.
- If you have a date for a
session with a family consultant, you should be contacted by that consultant to
attend the conference by telephone.
- If the appointment is not
within the Court building, then you will need to contact the Family Consultant
directly and discuss how they wish the assessment to proceed.
Divorce
hearings
- Where you are required to attend
the Court for a divorce hearing in normal circumstances (if children are
involved), these hearings can now be done by telephone without the need for you
to attend Court.
- Joint Applications filed with
the Court will be reviewed by Registrars and orders will be made without the
necessity of attending Court.
Court
documents
- All Court documents can now be
signed by your lawyer and then filed electronically with the Court.
- There is no need for you to
sign any documents.
- Applications for Consent Orders
can still be lodged by way of e-application and Orders will be made by
Registrar in the normal way.
Children’s
matters
- The Court has made an
announcement stating that any Court Orders involving children are to be
followed by parents. The best interests of the child are still paramount. If
you choose not to send a child to the other parent in line with the Court Order,
then you will need to establish that you had a “reasonable excuse” to withhold
the child.
- It would be prudent to obtain a
medical certificate if the child is sick.
- The Court expects parents to
negotiate a set of sensible alternatives for if for example, a hand over venue
is closed, such as a school.
- There will only be restricted
circumstances where deviation from Court Orders could provide a reasonable
excuse such as if one parent has COVID-19 or the child has the virus or is
otherwise ill or if there are other genuine safety issues. A parent is not to
use the restrictions due to COVID-19 to obtain an advantage over the other
parent.
- If parents can negotiate a
variation to the Orders, the new arrangement should be noted in writing. Any
variation should be in line with the spirit of the Orders. Overall, at all
times, parents and carer’s have to act reasonably.
- If children have to travel
interstate (e.g. during school holidays) to spend time with the other parent,
it is expected that States and Territories who have applied border restrictions
will allow an exemption to comply with Court Orders.
- If one parent does not act
reasonably and withholds a child from the other parent, then applications can
still be made to the Court for contravention or to recover the child if the
child is withheld and not returned to the parent with whom they live.
If you would like to discuss how any of the above changes will impact on the progress of your matter, please contact our Family Law expert Joanne Cliff.
For more information, please contact:
This communication provides general information which is current as at the time of production. The information contained in this communication does not constitute advice and should not be relied upon as such. Professional advice should be sought prior to any action being taken in reliance on any of the information. Should you wish to discuss any matter raised in this alert, or what it means for you, your business or your clients' businesses, please feel free to contact us.