pARt 6 MAnAGeMent AnD AccountABilitY - Family Court of Australia

The review showed that the program was well established and integrated with less adversarial trials.Judges reported a high level of satisfaction with the way the program focussed on the needs of childrenand integrated with the first day of the less adversarial trial. The Child Responsive Program has becomemore flexible to accommodate the needs of the particularly complex matters now before the Court andto ensure that families do not undergo duplicated assessments when matters are transferred betweencourts.Management of human resourcesOverviewIn 2009–10, the Court’s human resources area undertook significant work associated with the merger ofthe administration of the Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court, which had commenced in March2009. A people management framework and related strategies were essential for the merged workforce.PART 6MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITYTerms and conditions of employment was a key issue. Staff on similar classifications, working side-bysideand performing similar duties had different terms and conditions of employment including differentrates of pay. This was a result of different pay structures within the courts, and different employmentconditions and salary outcomes from the respective Collective Agreements.A high priority of the Chief Executive Officer of the Family Court and Acting Chief Executive Officer ofthe Federal Magistrates Court was for a single Enterprise Agreement with a single set of terms andconditions for all staff of both courts. That could not be accomplished immediately following the mergerof the administration. The Federal Magistrates Court’s Collective Agreement had a nominal expiry date of30 June 2009 and the last pay rise under it was on 1 July 2008. The Family Court’s Collective Agreementnominally expired on 30 June 2010, with a pay rise of 4.4 per cent from 1 July 2009. As a result the payrates applying to staff of the respective courts were significantly out of alignment.As an interim measure, the Chief Executive Officer, by determination under section 24 of the PublicService Act 1999, aligned the salary rates of the two courts on 9 September 2009. This followedconsultation with staff and the Community and Public Sector Union, and the approval of the Attorney-General and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.Also in September 2009, the Government introduced new policy parameters for agreement makingin the Australian Public Service, the Australian Government Employment Bargaining Framework.Negotiations then commenced for a replacement Enterprise Agreement involving the Courts’management, the CPSU and individual staff bargaining representatives.The Courts’ intranets were the primary vehicles for keeping the employees informed of developments,with regular news and announcements about issues such as salary alignment, registry reviews and theprogress of negotiations for the new Agreement. Management also kept employees informed throughall-staff emails.The aim was for a replacement Enterprise Agreement to be in place by 1 July 2010. On 18 June 2010,Fair Work Australia approved the new Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and Family Court ofAustralia Enterprise Agreement 2010. It commenced on 25 June 2010. See ‘Agreement Making’ later inthis Part for more details.120 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010