BRISBANE CASE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE
Brisbane Federal Circuit Court is conducting a trial of a new way of managing cases in its
Brisbane registry from 4 June 2018.
The pilot will limit case management to a discrete number of judges who will have
responsibility for managing applications as they progress towards resolution. The
remaining judges will focus on hearing and determining matters that are listed for final
hearing.
WHY IS THIS PILOT NEEDED?
The Court is conscious that it must explore ways
of deploying its present resources to maximise
the opportunity for cases to be resolved in a
timely way.
The pending number of final order applications
in the Court has grown in past five years; the
percentage of pending cases over 12 months
old has increased; and the median time for trial
has increased to 15.2 months.
The Court is considering a range of options to
manage its workload and these options focus
on facilitating earlier resolution of matters and
the timely disposition of those for which a trial is
required.
WHAT WILL THIS PILOT ACHIEVE?
It is anticipated that concentrating case
management of matters to a limited number of
judges will have the following benefits:
• greater consistency by consolidating the
management of cases to a limited number
of judges
• reduced timelines by identifying matters that
can be settled earlier in the life of the case
• improved outcomes by using additional
forms of alternative dispute resolution
• improved efficiency by ensuring resources
such as Family Consultants are used
consistently and effectively
• reduced impact to litigants by lessening the
time at court, and the number of visits to
court
• better information for stakeholders, and
• reduced impact of the introduction of digital
changes in family law.
WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN?
The pilot will commence on 4 June 2018 and
run until 31 December 2018.
WHAT WILL CHANGE?
There will be minimal changes to filing and
other Brisbane registry-based procedures during the
pilot.
Read more here
Brisbane / Sunshine Coast / Gold Coast / North Queensland
