Practice Directions and Notices

Home | Search | Index | Site Map |

ARCHIVED PRACTICE DIRECTION

Trial of a New Form: Initiating Application (Family Law)

Practice Direction: No.1 of 2006

See: Revocation of Trial of a New Form: Initiating Application (Family Law)

Introduction

In order to advance the implementation of the combined Registry project, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia have agreed to trial a new form entitled "Initiating Application (Family Law)". In the Federal Circuit Court the exisiting Response form should be used.

This Practice Direction relates to the use of this new document in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The Chief Justice of the Family Court has issued a Practice Direction dealing with the use of the new Initiating Application (Family Law) in the Family Court.

Practice Direction

This Practice Direction is effective from 8 January 2007.

The new Initiating Application (Family Law) may be used to seek both final and interim relief in family law proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court. Until the trial has been completed and appropriate consultation and evaluation has taken place, there will be no Rule changes and use of the new forms is permitted by this Practice Direction as an option to using the existing form to commence proceedings.

Proceedings seeking final orders alone, or both final and interim orders in family law proceedings, should be initiated using the form entitled " Initiating Application (Family Law)".

The new form will be available over the counter at Family Law Court Registries and will be able to be downloaded from this web site.

Save for the use of the new form authorised by this Practice Direction, the Federal Circuit Court Rules (other then Rule 4.06) apply, changing what needs to be changed to achieve this. Thus, the requirements for filing an affidavit in support of the application when initiating proceedings continue to apply. If the new form is used it will not be necessary to comply with Rule 4.06, as all of the relevant content required for the information sheet is now in the Initiating Application (Family Law).

John Pascoe AO
Chief Judge
Federal Circuit Court of Australia
20 December 2006

Top of page