The Family Court of Australia is a federal Australian court, created by the Family Law Act 1975 as a specialist court dealing with family law matters, established in 1975 as an intiative of the Whitlam government.

The Court has had three Chief Justices to date, Elizabeth Evatt, Alistair Nicholson and Diana Bryant.

Jurisdiction

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The Family Court of Australia has jurisdiction over all marriage-related cases in Australia, including applications for declarations of the validity or nullity of marriages, divorces, residence, contact , maintenance, child support and property issues. This jurisdiction, granted in the Family Law Act 1975, is a Commonwealth responsibility under the 'matiromonal causes' head of power in Section 51(xxii) of the Australian Constitution. Prior to 1975, jurisdiction over family law matters was held and exercised largely by state Supreme courts under the Matrimonial Causes Act.

The Family Court also has jurisdiction over the children of defacto couples and those that have never lived together. This jurisdiction was acquired by the Commonwealth through an agreement between the states (except West Australia) and the Commonwealth to refer powers. The initial referral referred to custody and access in the breakdown of defacto relationships. A number of states have also referred defacto property issues, however the federal government has not yet legislated in this area. As a result, in all Australian states, financial issues between defacto couples are dealt with by state courts pursuant ot state legislation.

With the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Court (FMC) in 1999, the Family Court now has concurrent jurisdiction in most areas, with the FMC. The majority of proceedings under the Family Law Act are now filed in the FMC.

Appeals from first instance decisions of the Family Court lie to the Full Court of the Family court. It is possible to appeal to the High Court of Australia, although this requires special leave to appeal from the High Court, or a certificate from the Family Court certifying that the case raises important legal questions or matters of public interest. Few family law cases have obtained special leave to appeal.

External sources

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• Jurisdiction of the Family Court from the Family Court Website
• Family Law and the Family Court of Australia: Experiences of the First 25 Years - by former Family Court Chief Justice Nicholson and M Harrision in the Melbourne University Law Review

1975 establishments | Australian courts | Australian family law