Don’t worry the Australian Govt introduced a whole lot of other nasty legislation this week using Facebook as the whipping boy to hide their other unpleasantness this week.
Lawyers Weekly reports on their dismantling of the Family Court.. great report
Legal profession hits back at Porter for ‘flawed’ Family Court merger
No matter how the government tries to sell it, the legal profession holds fast to claims that the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court merger is “flawed” and based on “widely discredited” evidence that will only hinder the delays it sought to manage.
Despite years of criticisms from major legal bodies, expert commentary, responses from those at the top of the courts and evidence that the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court merger would only hinder the system even further, the government has approved it. While it has been marketed as a way to improve costs and delays, the legal profession has warned that it will only have detrimental consequences.
In a statement about the merger, Attorney-General Christian Porter boasted that the Morrison government is the first of many to secure “much-needed” reform by being behind a system that he said will implement a consistent set of court rules and make navigating the system simpler, despite concerns from the profession that it will not.
The Law Council of Australia, Women’s Legal Services Australia, Community Legal Centres and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service issued a statement soon thereafter with concerns that the decision to merge has been based on a “widely discredited” PwC report and distributed by stakeholders. They said there is evidence to support the “damage that will be done” by the merger.
The legal bodies said that those who have voted for the bill – including senators Rex Patrick and Pauline Hanson – have “tasked the courts” to deliver outcomes with fewer resources than they have. At this stage, there are eight judicial vacancies that are yet to be filled and at least 10 judges in family law due to retire in 2021-22.
Then there is the “heavy scrutiny” that the government and new court will be under to resolve 8,000 additional cases, reduce costs, reduce the time separating families will spend before the court and reduce delays, “even allowing for the impact” of COVID.
