FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA OF COURT FAMILY FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT ANNUAL REPORT 2009–2010 REPORT ANNUAL 2010–2011 4512 DESIGN DIRECTION )$0,/<&2857 2)$8675$/,$ ANNUAL REPORT 2010–2011 ISSN: 1035-9060 © Commonwealth of Australia 2011 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 the editor at: Manager Family Law Courts National Communication Family Court of Australia 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/FCOA/home/about/publications/annual/ The online version contains links to the 2010–11 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 contractors: Editing: Foulsham & Munday Pty Ltd Design and typesetting: Design Direction Printing: Blue Star Print Photography: David Kirby This annual report is printed on Impress Silk Artboard (cover) and Impress Silk (inside pages). Made from elemental chlorine free bleached pulp sourced from well-managed forests. It is PEFC certified and is manufactured by an ISO 14001 certified mill using renewable energy sources. The cover’s feature photograph is of the Harry Gibbs Commonwealth Law Courts building in Brisbane. Smaller images are from the Edward Braddon Commonwealth Law Courts building in Hobart and the Garfield Barwick Commonwealth Law Courts building in Parramatta. ii Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 iii iv Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 Contents Letter of transmittal iii Contents 1 Reader’s guide 6 Acronyms and abbreviations 7 Glossary of court-specific terms 8 PART 1: THE YEAR IN REVIEW 13 The year in review 13 PART 2: OVERVIEW OF THE COURT 21 About the Court 21 Outcome and program 23 Strategic initiatives in the Portfolio Budget Statements 23 Developments since the end of the financial year 29 Outlook for 2011–12 29 Shared parenting statistics 30 International cooperation 30 Court service locations 33 Initiatives of the Family Court 34 PART 3: REPORT ON COURT PERFORMANCE 45 Outcome and outputs 45 Historic performance against KPIs 45 Judicial services 46 Registry and National Enquiry Centre services 75 Client feedback and complaints management 81 PART 4: APPEALS 87 Appeal Division 87 Appeals 87 Full Court sittings 88 Appeals to the High Court of Australia 93 PART 5: SIGNIFICANT AND NOTEWORTHY JUDGMENTS 97 Significant and noteworthy judgments 97 Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 1 PART 6: MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY Corporate governance 117 Fraud control certification 135 External and internal scrutiny 136 Management of human resources 141 Financial management 150 Services provided free of charge 152 Purchasing, consultants and contracts 153 Legal services expenditure 154 Assets management 156 Correction of material errors in 2009–10 report 157 PART 7: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 161 PART 8: APPENDICES 217 Appendix 1 Resource statement 217 Appendix 2 Expenses and resources for outcome 1 218 Appendix 3 Staffing profile 219 Appendix 4 Occupational health and safety 229 Appendix 5 Freedom of information 231 Appendix 6 Advertising and market research 234 Appendix 7 Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance 235 Appendix 8 Grant programs 239 Appendix 9 Consultant services 240 Appendix 10 Committees 242 Appendix 11 External involvement 247 Appendix 12 Judicial activities 253 Appendix 13 International visitors 257 Appendix 14 Contact details 259 PART 9: INDEXES 267 List of requirements 267 Alphabetical index 270 2 Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 Tables Table 2.1 Registered users of the Commonwealth Courts Portal, 2008–09 to 2010–11 27 Table 2.2 Documents eFiled in the Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court, 28 2008–09 to 2010–11 Table 2.3 Family Court of Australia service locations 33 Table 3.1 Summary of performance—judicial services 48 Table 3.2 Appeal caseload 2006–07 to 2010–11 68 Table 3.3 Summary of performance—client services 77 Table 3.4 National Enquiry Centre performance, 2008–09 to 2010–11 81 Table 4.1 Notice of appeals filed, finalised and pending by jurisdiction, 89 2006–07 to 2010–11 Table 6.1 Legal Services Expenditure 155 Table 8.1 Agency resource statement—2010–11 217 Table 8.2 Expenses and resources for Outcome 1 218 Table 8.3 Staff by location 219 Table 8.4 Staff by gender 220 Table 8.5 Staff by attendance status 221 Table 8.6 Ongoing staff by location and classification 222 Table 8.7 Non-ongoing staff, by location and classification 222 Table 8.8 Total number of judges, 30 June 2011 223 Table 8.9 Workforce turnover 224 Table 8.10 Family Court employees covered by the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia 225 and Family Court of Australia Enterprise Agreement 2010 Table 8.11 Employees covered by other agreements 226 Table 8.12 AWA minimum and maximum salary ranges by classification 227 Table 8.13 Classification structure and pay rates 228 Table 8.14 Comcare premium rates, 2007–08 to 2011–12 230 Table 8.15 FOI requests over the last seven financial years 231 Table 8.16 Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court environmental impact/usage data 235 Table 8.17 Consultant services contracts let during 2010–11, of $10 000 or more 240 Table 8.18 Judicial committees, 30 June 2011 242 Table 8.19 Senior management governance committees, 30 June 2010 245 Table 8.20 Conferences attended and papers delivered by the Chief Justice, 2010–11 253 Table 8.21 Chief Justice’s speaking engagements, 2010–11 254 Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 3 Figures Figure 3.1 The Family Court’s outcome and program 45 Figure 3.2 Applications filed, 2010–11 49 Figure 3.3 Issues sought on Final Order cases, 2010–11 50 Figure 3.4 Attrition and settlement trend in the Court’s caseload, 2006–07 to 2010–11 50 Figure 3.5 Cases finalised at first instance trial, 2006–07 to 2010–11 51 Figure 3.6 Number of judges, 2006–07 to 2010–11 52 Figure 3.7 Final orders applications, 2006–07 to 2010–11 53 Figure 3.8 Applications in a case, 2006–07 to 2010–11 53 Figure 3.9 Consent orders applications, 2006–07 to 2010–11 54 Figure 3.10 All applications, 2006–07 to 2010–11 54 Figure 3.11 Final orders applications, clearance rates, 2006–07 to 2010–11 55 Figure 3.12 Application in a case, clearance rates, 2006–07 to 2010–11 55 Figure 3.13 Consent orders applications, clearance rates, 2006–07 to 2010–11 56 Figure 3.14 All applications, clearance rates, 2006–07 to 2010–11 56 Figure 3.15 Age of pending applications, 2006–07 to 2010–11 57 Figure 3.16 Final order applications, time pending, 2006–07 to 2010–11 58 Figure 3.17 Applications in a case (interim), time pending, 2006–07 to 2010–11 58 Figure 3.18 Consent order applications, time pending, 2006–07 to 2010–11 59 Figure 3.19 All applications, time pending, 2006–07 to 2010–11 59 Figure 3.20 Reserved judgments outstanding (pending) less than 3 months, as at 60 30 June 2006–07 to 2010–11 Figure 3.21 Time for reserved judgments outstanding (pending), at 61 30 June 2006–07 to 2010–11 Figure 3.22 Applications finalised within 12 months, 2006–07 to 2010–11 62 Figure 3.23 Final order applications, time to finalise, 2006–07 to 2010–11 62 Figure 3.24 Applications in a case, time to finalise, 2006-07 to 2010-11 63 Figure 3.25 Consent order applications, time to finalise, 2006–07 to 2010–11 63 Figure 3.26 All applications, time to finalise, 2006–07 to 2010–11 64 Figure 3.27 Reserved judgments delivered within three months, 2006–07 to 2008–09 65 (final judgments only) and 2009–10 to 2010–11 (all judgments) Figure 3.28 Reserved judgments, time to deliver, 2006–07 to 2008–09 65 (final judgments only) and 2009–10 to 2010–11 (all judgments) Figure 3.29 Total judicial services complaints, 2006–07 to 2010–11 66 Figure 3.30 Judicial services complaints, 2006–07 to 2010–11 67 4 Family Court of Australia—Annual Report 2010–2011 Figure 3.31 Proportion of litigants representation status, finalised cases, 69 2006–07 to 2010–11 Figure 3.32 Proportion of litigants representation status, trials, 2006–07 to 2010–11 69 Figure 3.33 Per cent of cases where majority time children spend with parents 70 for finalised litigated cases, 2007–08 to 2010–11 Figure 3.34 Per cent of cases where minority of time children spend with parents 71 for finalised litigated cases, 2007–08 to 2010–11 Figure 3.35 Per cent of cases where majority time children spend with parents 71 for finalised consent cases, 2007–08 to 2010–11 Figure 3.36 Per cent of cases where minority time children spend with parents 72 for finalised consent cases, 2007–08 to 2010–11 Figure 3.37 Most common reason why mothers had less than 30 per cent of time 72 spent with children for finalised litigated cases, 2007–08 to 2010–11 Figure 3.38 Most common reason why fathers had less