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Overview of the court Part 2From the launch of Finding a Better WayCHILD RESPONSIVE PROGRAMIn recognition of the significance of the reformsthat LAT represents the Court published Findinga Better Way: A bold departure from the traditionalcommon law approach to the conduct of legalproceedings in April 2007. This publication is anaccount of the decisions taken to commence thepilot and the reasons for them, as well as of theexperience of CCP. It also marked the conclusionof the first stage of the reform process — fromthe vision through to implementation — andcommencement of the second stage, putting itinto daily practice.In response to the changes to the family law framework, particularly the establishmentof Family Relationship Centres and the introduction of compulsory dispute resolutionbefore filing, the Court has changed the role of its family consultants. This is in line withthe Court’s aim to provide a quality service which directly supports judicial decisionmaking,without duplicating services in the community. The Court has developedand tested a new model of family consultants working with child disputes, called theChild Responsive Program (CRP). Each case has a family consultant allocated to it.This provides continuity of family consultant through to trial and post-trial follow upand referral, where this is required. 3 CRP aims to include children early in the process,providing an opportunity to put forward their views and to focus parents on theirneeds. CRP is designed to integrate and align with less adversarial (child related) trialproceedings and to enable what occurs during the program to be admissible in court.The CRP provides the parties with the following:Intake and assessment meeting;Child and family conference with potential for child involvement, depending on thefamily consultant’s assessment;Selective settlement meeting;Oral report to the Court on first day of trial, if the matter has not settled;A Full Family Report if required; andPost orders follow up.Following the successful pilot in Melbourne and the evaluation by Dr Jennifer McIntosh,CRP was implemented in selected rural and regional registries, including Cairns,Townsville, Canberra, Dubbo, Hobart, Launceston and Lismore.3 An evaluation was designed and conducted by Dr. Jenn McIntosh (Child Responsive Program Evaluation Report,McIntosh & Long, September, 2006). See Part 6 for more information on the outcomes of this evaluation.18Family Court of Australia Annual Report 2006–2007Back to contents page
Following the success of the CRP pilot, the Court received additional funding from theGovernment in the 2007-08 Budget to implement the program nationally. The CRP willbe implemented throughout the Court in 2007-08.MAGELLANThe Magellan project pilot commenced in the Melbourne registry of the Family Court inmid 1998 and has now been implemented in all States and Territories. In NSW, however,it is limited (by direction from the Department of Children’s Services) to certainpostcodes in the South West Sydney area.Magellan involves special case management of cases in which there are seriousallegations of sexual or physical abuse of a child. Once a Magellan case is identifiedit is managed by a designated small team consisting of a judge, registrar and familyconsultant. Magellan case management relies on a collaborative and highly coordinatedset of processes and procedures. A crucial aspect is strong inter-agency coordination,in particular with State and Territory child protection agencies, which ensures thatproblems are dealt with efficiently and that information sharing is of high quality. Anindependent children’s lawyer is appointed in every Magellan case.As a result of the legislative changes which commenced on 1 July 2006, the FamilyCourt introduced a prescribed (mandatory) form to be used in two situations. One,when allegations of child abuse or risk of child abuse are made and a prescribed childwelfare authority must be notified of the allegations (Section 67Z of the Family Law Act1975). The other when a person alleges that there has been abuse of a child, or familyviolence, or there is a risk of abuse of a child or family violence, and the allegation isrelevant to whether the court should grant or refuse the application (Section 60K of theFamily Law Act 1975). This form is a ‘trigger’ for identifying Magellan cases early in thecourt process.Part 2Overview of the courtThere have been a total of 734 Magellan cases since the introduction of this casemanagement process. 4MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT, FAMILY VIOLENCE SCREENING AND CULTURALDIVERSITY (the Integrated Client Service Delivery Program)During the year the Court combined a number of client service related developmentactivities into the one Integrated Client Service Delivery Program (ICSDP). Each of thepre-existing projects was aiming to understand and better meet the needs of clients.At the same time the Government is pursuing a ‘whole of government’ approach topolicy and service delivery that emphasises integration between agencies and strongerpartnerships with the community sector. The aim of the ICSDP was to formally combinethe pre-existing projects into a single, coordinated effort and to ensure that they areincorporated and embedded into the Court’s core service delivery.4 See Part 6 for information on the external evaluation of this project.Back to contents pageFamily Court of Australia Annual Report 2006–200719
Page 1 and 2: Overview of the courtPart 2
Page 3 and 4: GENERAL OVERVIEWThe Family Court of
Page 5 and 6: More information on any significant
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Page 13 and 14: Implementing a national network of
Page 15 and 16: PLANNINGIn response to the Governme
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Page 19 and 20: JUDGES AND JUDICIAL REGISTRARSAt th
Page 21 and 22: ParramattaThe Honourable Justice Ia
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