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FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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to develop internal and external communication campaigns outlining
project activity to staff, clients and stakeholders respectively
to develop Rules of Court that are fair, clear and understandable
to develop a framework for the evolution of the Court processes into the
21st century recognising the changing character and needs of those SRLs
(and represented parties) who appear before the Court or seek its help in
the resolution of conflict
The Project Team
Justice John Faulks, was asked by the Chief Justice to lead the project team.
Justice Faulks, with a keen interest in "justice and fairness", had previously
attended the National Conference on Pro Se Litigation in Arizona, USA and
reported on this to the Court.
Other members of the project team consisted of representatives from the various
streams of expertise within the Court such as: registry manager; manager of
mediation/counselling; client services officer, deputy registrar; and registrar. This
enabled individual team members to utilise their internal networks to get input
and feedback on the work of the project team. Administrative and research
support for the project was provided by the National Support Office.
The team was also fortunate to have Professor John Dewar, at that time Dean of
the Faculty of Law of Griffith University and author of the original research, as
consultant to the project. 3
The Steering Committee
In the later stages, the project was oversighted by a steering committee
comprising the Senior Administrative Judge, the Chief Executive Officer of the
Family Court and representatives from the National Association of Community
Legal Centres and the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia. The
steering committee provided strategic guidance and advice to the project team.
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3 A full list of all team members is available in Appendix 1.