ANNUAL REPORT 15 REPORT ANNUAL / 16 15/16 FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIAFAMILY ANNUAL REPORT 15/16 ANNUAL REPORT ISSN: 1035–9060 (print version) ISSN: 2203–1863 (online version) © Commonwealth of Australia 2016 The Family Court of Australia provides all material (unless otherwise noted and with the exception of the Coat of Arms) with Creative Commons (CC) Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported licensing. Material may be distributed, as long as it remains unchanged and the Family Court of Australia is credited as the creator. More information can be found at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/. If you have any questions about Creative Commons or licensing generally, please email [email protected] Enquiries If you would like to comment on this annual report, or have any queries, please contact: National Communication Family Court and Federal Circuit Court GPO Box 9991 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Ph: +61 2 6243 8690 Fax: +61 2 6243 8737 Email: [email protected] Alternative formats This annual report is available electronically at: http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fcoaweb/reports-and-publications/annual-reports/ The online version contains links to the 2015–16 Attorney-General’s Portfolio Budget Statements. Acknowledgments This report reflects the efforts of many people. Special thanks go to the Court staff involved in contributing and coordinating material, as well as the following specialist contractor: Printing: New Millennium Print This annual report is printed on 130gsm Monza satin recycled and 300gsm Monza satin recycled. Monza recycled contains 55% recycled fibre and is FSC® mix certified, which ensures that all virgin pulp is derived from well-managed forests and controlled sources. Monza recycled is manufactured by an ISO 14001 certified mill. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL ANNUAL REPORT 15/16 III CONTENTS Letter of transmittal III Reader’s guide X Acronyms and abbreviations XI Glossary of court-specific terms XIII 1 THE COURT’S YEAR IN REVIEW 2015–16 1 Highlights 3 Changes from 1 July 2016 4 Workload issues 5 Appeals 5 Judicial appointments 5 Community engagement 6 2 OVERVIEW OF THE COURT 11 About the Court 12 Portfolio Budget Statements outcome and program 13 Court service locations 16 Information technology initiatives 18 Registry services initiatives 24 Internal communication initiatives 26 International Framework for Court Excellence 28 Child Dispute Services 29 Access and inclusion 31 International cooperation 33 3 REPORT ON COURT PERFORMANCE 39 Annual Performance Statement – Judicial services 40 Introductory statement 40 Family Court of Australia purpose 40 Results 40 Performance criterion 40 Criterion source 42 Result against performance criterion 42 Analysis of performance against purpose 43 National coverage as appellate court 55 Social justice and equity impacts 55 Annual Performance Statement – Registry services 59 Introductory statement 59 IV FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA Family Court and Federal Circuit Court entity purpose 59 Results 59 Performance criterion 59 Criterion source 60 Result against performance criterion 60 Analysis of performance against purpose 61 Client feedback and complaints management 65 4 APPEALS 69 Annual Performance Statement 70 Introductory statement 70 Family Court of Australia purpose 70 Results 70 Performance criterion 70 Criterion source 71 Result against performance criterion 71 Analysis of performance against purpose 73 5 SIGNIFICANT AND NOTEWORTHY JUDGMENTS 83 Janssen & Janssen 84 Ghazel & Ghazel and Anor 86 Medlow & Medlow 88 Secretary, Department of Family and Community Services & Padwa 89 Faukland & Shikia 91 6 MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 95 Corporate governance 96 Judicial officers of the Family Court of Australia 98 Judges assigned to the Appeal Division 99 Judges 99 Appointments, retirements and resignations 101 Senior executives 102 Judicial committees reporting 104 Judicial committee highlights 106 Collaborative committees 113 Senior management committees 114 Corporate and operational planning and associated performance reporting and review 116 Internal audit 117 Risk management 118 Financial risk 118 Fraud prevention and control 118 Information Publication Scheme 119 ANNUAL REPORT 15/16 V Ethical standards 120 Management and accountability 120 Service Charter and Service Commitments 121 Feedback and service improvements 122 Compliance reporting 122 External and internal scrutiny 122 External evaluations 124 Internal evaluations 124 Management of human resources 125 Workforce planning, retention and turnover 126 Workforce turnover 132 Agreement making 133 Training, learning and development 134 Disability reporting 136 Productivity gains 137 Financial management 137 Purchasing, consultants and contracts 142 Assets and property management 143 Correction of errors in 2014–15 report 145 7 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 147 Index to the financial statements 148 8 APPENDIXES 197 Appendix one 198 Appendix two 199 Appendix three 200 Appendix four 210 Appendix five 213 Appendix six 214 Appendix seven 218 Appendix eight 219 Appendix nine 224 Appendix ten 236 Appendix eleven 250 Appendix twelve 256 9 INDEXES 261 List of requirements 262 Alphabetical index 269 VI FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Family Court of Australia service locations 16 Table 2.2 Registered users of the Commonwealth Courts Portal, 2012–13 to 2015–16 19 Table 2.3 Documents eFiled in the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court, 2012–13 to 2015–16 19 Table 3.1 Key performance indictors – judicial services, 2015–16 42 Table 3.2 Summary of performance against judicial services KPIs, 2011–12 to 2015–16 42 Table 3.3 Appeal caseload, 2011–12 to 2015–16 55 Table 3.4 Key performance indictors – registry services, 2015–16 60 Table 3.5 Summary of performance against registry services KPIs, 2011–12 to 2015–16 61 Table 3.6 National Enquiry Centre performance, 2011–12 to 2015–16 64 Table 4.1 Notice of Appeals filed, finalised and pending by jurisdiction, 2011–12 to 2015–16 74 Table 4.2 Other applications filed in appeal cases, 2011–12 to 2015–16 75 Table 6.1 Categories of Family Court and Federal Circuit Court expenditure 138 Table 6.2 Categories of Family Court and Federal Circuit Court Administration expenditure 140 Table 8.1 Entity Resource Statement 2015–16 198 Table 8.2 Expenses for Outcome 1 199 Table 8.3 Staff by location 200 Table 8.4 Staff by gender 201 Table 8.5 Staff by attendance status 202 Table 8.6 Ongoing staff by location and classification 203 Table 8.7 Non-ongoing staff by location and classification 203 Table 8.8 Indigenous staff by location, gender and employment status 204 Table 8.9 Total number of judges, 30 June 2015 204 Table 8.10 Workforce turnover 205 Table 8.11 Family Court and Federal Circuit Court employees covered by the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia Enterprise Agreement 2011–2014 206 Table 8.12 Employees covered by other agreements 207 Table 8.13 AWA minimum and maximum salary ranges by classification 208 Table 8.14 Classification structure and pay rates in accordance with the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia Enterprise Agreement 2011–2014 209 Table 8.15 Family Court and Federal Circuit Court environmental impact/usage data, 2012–13 to 2015–16 214 ANNUAL REPORT 15/16 VII LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 The outcome and program of the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court 41 Figure 3.2 Summary workload by application type, 2015–16 43 Figure 3.3 Issues sought on Final Order cases filed, 2015–16 44 Figure 3.4 Attrition and settlement trend in the Court’s caseload, 2011–12 to 2015–16 45 Figure 3.5 Cases finalised at first instance trial, 2011–12 to 2015–16 46 Figure 3.6 Final orders applications, 2011–12 to 2015–16 47 Figure 3.7 Applications in a case, 2011–12 to 2015–16 47 Figure 3.8 Consent orders applications, 2011–12 to 2015–16 48 Figure 3.9 All applications, 2011–12 to 2015–16 48 Figure 3.10 All applications, clearance rates, 2011–12 to 2015–16 49 Figure 3.11 Age of pending applications, 2011–12 to 2015–16 50 Figure 3.12 All applications, time pending, 2011–12 to 2015–16 50 Figure 3.13 Reserved judgments outstanding (pending) less than three months, as at 30 June 2011–12 to 2015–16 51 Figure 3.14 Time for reserved judgments outstanding (pending), at 30 June 2011–12 to 2015–16 51 Figure 3.15 Applications finalised within 12 months, 2011–12 to 2015–16 52 Figure 3.16 All applications, time to finalise, 2011–12 to 2015–16 53 Figure 3.17 Reserved judgments delivered within three months, 2011–12 to 2015–16 (all reserved judgments) 53 Figure 3.18 Time to deliver reserved judgments, 2011–12 to 2015–16 (all reserved judgments) 54 Figure 3.19 Total judicial services complaints, 2011–12 to 2015–16 54 Figure 3.20 Proportion of litigants’ representation status, finalised cases, 2011–12 to 2015–16 56 Figure 3.21 Proportion of litigants’ representation status, at trials, 2011–12 to 2015–16 56 Figure 3.22 Notices of child abuse or risk of family violence filed, 2011–12 to 2015–16 57 Figure 3.23 Proportion of final order cases in which a notice of child abuse or risk of family violence is filed, 2011–12 to 2015–16 57 Figure 3.24 Magellan cases, 2011–12 to 2015–16 58 Figure 3.25 Administration complaints, 2015–16 66 Figure 4.1 The outcome and program of the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court 71 Figure 4.2 Notice of appeals, 2011–12 to 2015–16 75 Figure 4.3 Proportion of notices of appeal filed by jurisdiction of decree, 2011–12 to 2015–16 76 VIII FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA Figure 4.4 Notices