About the Court
Information for the Media
Media enquiries should be directed to Denise Healy, Media and Public Affairs Manager, (03) 8600 4357.
The Court was originally established by the Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (the FM Act) and its jurisdiction at inception was conferred by the Federal Magistrates (Consequential Amendments) Act 1999.
In April 2013 the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia became known as the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.
The name of the Court was changed to more accurately reflect the role of the Court and its accessibility for all court users. The inclusion of ‘circuit’ to the name highlights the prominence of the Court’s circuit work in regional areas and ‘federal’ reflects the broad jurisdiction in both family law and general federal law. The Court shares similar jurisdiction to that of the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia.
The jurisdiction of the FCC covers family law and child support, administrative law, bankruptcy, human rights, consumer protection and trade practices, privacy, migration, copyright, industrial law and admiralty law.
When sitting as a court, the title Federal Circuit Court is to be used. For all other purposes, the court is to be known as the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.
The Chief Judge of the FCC is John Pascoe and he is based in Sydney. Judges are based in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Parramatta, Newcastle, Townsville, Launceston, Cairns, Hobart, Darwin and Perth. The FCC also conducts circuits in rural and regional areas.
Restrictions on reporting family law matters
Section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish proceedings that identify persons, associated persons or witnesses involved in family law proceedings. The section also extends the prohibition to the publication of any picture.
Occasionally, the Federal Circuit Court may make a Section 121 Publication Order under the Family Law Act. This allows the media to publish and broadcast information released by the court. Publication Orders are made in rare circumstances where the court is seeking the public's help in locating a missing child or children. Once a Publication Order has been lifted and Section 121 of the Family Law Act reinstated, no further information on the case can be published or broadcast.
Section 97 of the Family Law Act 1975 provides that all proceedings in the court shall be heard in open unless the court decides otherwise.
Restrictions on reporting migration cases
Section 91X of the Migration Act 1958 provides that the Court cannot publish a person's name where the person has applied for a protection visa or a protection-related visa or where these types of visas have been cancelled.
Useful links
To see the daily FCC court lists
For a list of judgments delivered in the FCC
How to address a Federal Circuit Court Judge
To see information on family law go to www.familylawcourts.gov.au
To see Missing Children (located on the Family Law Courts Web Site)
To see the annual reports, press releases and other FCC publications
To see information on the jurisdiction on the FCC
To subscribe to the Court's email notification service
To see the list of current Federal Circuit Court Judges
Our assistance phone line is 1300 352 000
Our E-mail address for family law enquiries (including divorce) is enquiries@familylawcourts.gov.au
Our E-mail address for general federal law enquiries is customer.service@federalcircuitcourt.gov.au,
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Page Updated 19 April 2013