Annual report [1997-98] - Family Court of Australia

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The Family Court of Australia – annual report 1997-98 Mediation Mediation continues to be offered from the Court’s Brisbane, Melbourne, Parramatta and Sydney registries. As seen with the Counselling Service, the Mediation Service was also affected by the introduction of fees on 1 July 1997. The five months in which fees were collected before being disallowd by the Senate, together with the Federal Attorney- General’s announcement of a review of the delivery of dispute resolution services in family law, saw a reduction in the number of cases opened by mediators over the past year compared to the previous year (406 compared to 556). The year has consequentially been spent attempting to consolidate the Mediation Service and to increase referrals. Mediation is now fully integrated into the Court’s primary dispute resolution services. Mediators conduct mediation sessions as well as conciliation conferences in their core discipline. Resources were at times reallocated from mediation due to the demand in the counselling and legal sections. One of the Court’s indigenous family consultants was appointed as a Court mediator by the Chief Justice this year. Otherwise, no other appointments were made by the Court in 1997- 98 and the service was provided by existing staff. The Family Law Regulations require a community or private mediator to undertake at least 12 hours education and training in family and child mediation each calendar year if they want to retain their accreditation. They must not undertake mediation if longer than a year has elapsed since last undertaking training. The Court has chosen to replicate the standards set in the Regulations for community or private mediators in its training program. In the same way, the Court has aimed to provide Court mediators with 12 hours education or training to maintain their skills. During 1997-1998, 170 mediation information sessions were conducted with 984 people attending. Mediators conducted 818 mediation sessions averaging two sessions for each matter. Of the matters closed, 51% of disputes related to both children and financial issues. Overall, 38% related to financial issues only and just under 10% dealt with children’s issues only. Of all matters seen, 60% were fully settled and a further 10% settled in at least one substantive issue. 31
The Family Court of Australia – annual report 1997-98 Program performance Performance standards in respect of the timely delivery of services provided by the Court are assessed against established standards set out in the Case Management Guidelines and the time periods prescribed by the Family Law Rules. The Case Management Guidelines prescribe time standards between each significant step in the progress of a matter along the case management pathway and the Rules prescribe time standards as to procedural matters such as service of documents and the allocation of hearing dates. The standards are intended to establish targets in relation to the timeliness of the provision of services but are also intended to take into consideration the individual needs of a matter. Performance against individual standards 1997-98 This Report covers the second full year in which Simplified Procedures and the consequential amendments to time standards applied. This should be kept in mind when considering the extent to which performance standards were met this year in comparison to years prior to the introduction of simplified procedures. Performance against individual standards reflect the increasing workload in the Court and ensuing resource issues. Performance indicators relating to time from filing to hearing indicate that the demand for hearing time is greater than the Court’s capacity to provide hearing dates with the current level of judicial resources. Table 3.1: Performance indicators at 30 June 1998 NORTHERN SOUTHERN FCWA BR DN NC PA SY TV AD CA DG HB ML Q.1 Dissolutions can be heard within 10 weeks? no no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no Mean waiting time (Weeks): 11.7 10.7 9.5 7.3 5.5 6.0 10.0 6.8 8.5 6.7 7.7 10.8 Q.2 Form 7 Ancillary Applications listed within 6 weeks? no no no no no yes no yes no no no yes Mean waiting time (Weeks): 6.3 7.2 7.3 8.0 8.2 5.7 6.3 6.0 6.3 6.2 6.2 5.8 Q.3 Form 8 Interim or Procedural Applications listed within 4 weeks? no no yes yes yes yes yes yes no no yes no Mean waiting time (Weeks): 8.3 7.2 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.7 4.0 4.0 4.7 4.3 4.0 4.7 Q.4 Conciliation Conference in Standard Track Financial Matters available within 12 weeks from Directions Hearing? yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes Mean waiting time (Weeks): 8.7 5.3 7.0 7.7 5.8 8.0 12.0 6.8 8.3 7.0 14.3 7.8 Q.5 Conciliation Counselling available within 3 weeks from Directions Hearing? no no no yes yes yes no no no yes no yes Mean waiting time (Weeks): 3.7 4.2 3.7 2.7 2.2 2.3 3.3 6.0 5.3 2.2 6.7 2.8 Q.6 Direct Track Matters heard within 6 mths (26 weeks)? no no no no no no no yes no yes no yes Average (mean) time from filing (Weeks): 32.3 36.0 32.3 44.0 55.0 26.3 26.7 13.0 44.3 21.0 54.3 13.3 Q.7 Standard Track Child Matters heard within 10 months (43 weeks)? no no no no no no no no no no no no Average (mean) time from filing (Weeks): 86.7 52.0 88.7 70.3 47.7 56.5 93.3 76.0 85.0 46.1 92.0 49.3 Q.8 Standard Track Financial Matters heard within 11 months (48 weeks)? no no no no no no no no yes no no no Average (mean) time from filing (Weeks): 87.0 52.0 103.7 69.3 63.0 51.5 98.7 74.7 30.0 60.7 99.7 50.0 Q.9 Complex Track Matters heard within 12 months (52 weeks)? no n.a. n.a. yes no n.a. no n.a. n.a. n.a. no yes Average (mean) time from filing (Weeks): 75.0 50.0 79.0 139.0 104.0 49.3 32
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