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Self-represented Litigants ~ A Challenge: PROJECT REPORT
BACKGROUND
The Family Court of Australia, like other Australian courts, operates within an
adversarial system, and is built around an expectation that parties will attend
with legal representation. While the majority of Court clients are represented,
the proportion of unrepresented parties is now very significant. Although there is
limited precise information about the profile of self-representation there is a
perception across the literature 1 that the number of self-representing litigants
(SRLs) is increasing in the court system, both within Australia and internationally.
In 1998 the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia appointed the Future
Directions Committee within the Court to initiate, support and monitor projects
which focus on the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of Court
services. In its final report the Committee stated that "self-representing litigants
are increasingly the new reality and all Court services and procedures must
address them as a permanent, significant and growing user group". 2
SRLs are clients of the Court who, for many and varied reasons, attend Court
without legal representation. The percentage of SRLs who are unrepresented
throughout the entire Court process is very low. Current research indicates that
most SRLs have partial representation at different stages throughout their
proceedings. Court services at all levels enable clients to manage Court
processes, but must necessarily avoid stepping into the bounds of legal advice.
The Court commissioned research into self-representation in family law.
Conducted by Professor John Dewar, Barry Smith and Cate Banks in 2000, the
report Litigants in Person in the Family Court of Australia was informed by The
Family Court of Australia’s Research Report No. 19 1998 Study of the effects of
legal aid cuts on the Family Court of Australia and its litigants, which found that
35 per cent of Family Court matters involved at least one party who was
unrepresented at some stage.
Key findings from the Dewar Report included:
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the majority of SRLs cannot afford legal representation, although a
significant minority said they did not need or want to be represented by a
lawyer
SRLs are disproportionately concentrated in children’s matters as opposed
to property matters
1 See bibliography for relevant literature
2 Family Court of Australia Future Directions Committee Report July 2000
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