FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2009–2010 ISSN: 1035–9060 © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney-General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at www.ag.gov.au/cca 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 under About the Court > Corporate publications at: www.familycourt.gov.au The online version contains links to the 2009–10 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: Bluestar 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 manufatured by an ISO 14001 certified mill using renewable energy sources. The cover features photos of the Lionel Bowen Commonwealth Law Courts building in Sydney. ii Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010 iii CONTENTS Letter of transmittal iii Contents 1 Reader’s guide 6 Acronyms and abbreviations 7 Glossary of Court-specific terms 8 PART 1: CHIEF JUSTICE’S REVIEW 9 Chief Justice’s year in review 11 PART 2: OVERVIEW OF THE COURT 15 About the Court 17 Outcome and program 18 Strategic initiatives in the Portfolio Budget Statements 19 Developments since the end of the financial year 20 Outlook for 2010–11 20 Shared parenting statistics 20 International cooperation 21 Court service locations 22 Initiatives of the Family Court 24 PART 3: REPORT ON COURT PERFORMANCE 33 Outcome and program 35 Judicial services 36 Registry services 64 Client feedback and complaints management 68 PART 4: APPEALS 71 Appeal Division 73 Appeals 74 Full Court sittings 74 Appeals to the High Court of Australia 81 PART 5: SIGNIFICANT AND NOTEWORTHY JUDGMENTS 83 Significant and noteworthy judgments 85 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010 1 PART 6: MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 95 Corporate governance 97 External and internal scrutiny 115 Management of human resources 120 Commonwealth Disability Strategy 127 Financial management 128 Services provided free of charge 129 Purchasing, consultants and contracts 130 Assets management 133 Correction of material errors in 2008–09 report 134 PART 7: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 135 PART 8: APPENDICES 187 Appendix 1: Resource statement 189 Appendix 2: Resources for outcomes 190 Appendix 3: Staffing profile 191 Appendix 4: Occupational health and safety 198 Appendix 5: Freedom of information 200 Appendix 6: Advertising and market research 203 Appendix 7: Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance 204 Appendix 8: Grant programs 205 Appendix 9: Commonwealth Disability Strategy performance reporting 206 Appendix 10: Committees 207 Appendix 11: External involvement 212 Appendix 12: Judicial activities 214 Appendix 13: International cooperation 217 Appendix 14: International visitors 219 Appendix 15: Contact details 222 PART 9: INDEXES 225 List of requirements 227 Alphabetical index 230 2 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010 TABLES Table 2.1 Family Court of Australia service locations 23 Table 2.2 Documents eFiled in the Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court, 2008–09 and 2009–10 25 Table 3.1 Summary of performance—judicial services 38 Table 3.2 Appeal caseload 2005–06 to 2009–10 58 Table 3.3 Summary of performance—client services 65 Table 3.4 National Enquiry Centre performance, 2007–08 to 2009–10 68 Table 4.1 Notice of appeals filed, finalised and pending by jurisdiction, 2005–06 to 2009–10 75 Table 6.1 Consultant services contracts let during 2009–10, of $10 000 or more 131 Table 6.2 Legal services expenditure 132 Table 8.1 Family Court of Australia resource statement, 2009–10 189 Table 8.2 Family Court of Australia resources for outcomes, 2009–10 190 Table 8.3 Staff by location 191 Table 8.4 Staff by gender 192 Table 8.5 Staff by attendance status 192 Table 8.6 Ongoing staff by location and classification 193 Table 8.7 Non-ongoing staff, by location and classification 193 Table 8.8 Total number of judges and judicial registrars, 30 June 2010 194 Table 8.9 Workforce turnover 194 Table 8.10 Family Court employees covered by the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia Enterprise Agreement 2010 195 Table 8.11 Employees covered by other agreements 196 Table 8.12 AWA minimum and maximum salary ranges by classification 196 Table 8.13 Classification structure and pay rates 197 Table 8.14 Comcare premium rates, 2005–06 to 2010–11 199 Table 8.15 Freedom of Information requests, 2005–06 to 2009–10 200 Table 8.16 Commonwealth Disability Strategy, Family Court performance indicators 2009–10 206 Table 8.17 Judicial committees, 30 June 2010 207 Table 8.18 Senior management governance committees, 30 June 2010 210 Table 8.19 Conferences attended and papers delivered by the Chief Justice, 2009–10 214 Table 8.20 Chief Justice’s speaking engagements, 2009–10 215 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010 3 FIGURES Figure 3.1 Transitioning from output reporting to program reporting 35 Figure 3.2 Applications filed, 2009–10 39 Figure 3.3 Issues sought on Final Order cases, 2009–10 39 Figure 3.4 Attrition and settlement trends in the Court’s caseload 40 Figure 3.5 Cases finalised at first instance trial, 2005–06 to 2009–10 41 Figure 3.6 Number of judges, 2005–06 to 2009–10 42 Figure 3.7 Final orders applications, 2005–06 to 2009–10 43 Figure 3.8 Application in a case, 2005–06 to 2009–10 43 Figure 3.9 Consent orders applications, 2005–06 to 2009–10 44 Figure 3.10 All applications, 2005–06 to 2009–10 44 Figure 3.11 Final orders applications, clearance rates, 2005–06 to 2009–10 45 Figure 3.12 Application in a case, clearance rates, 2005–06 to 2009–10 45 Figure 3.13 Consent orders applications, clearance rates, 2005–06 to 2009–10 46 Figure 3.14 All applications, clearance rates, 2005–06 to 2009–10 46 Figure 3.15 Age of pending applications, 2005–06 to 2009–10 47 Figure 3.16 Final order applications, time pending, 2005–06 to 2009–10 48 Figure 3.17 Applications in a case (interim), time pending, 2005–06 to 2009–10 48 Figure 3.18 Consent order applications, time pending, 2005–06 to 2009–10 49 Figure 3.19 All applications, time pending, 2005–06 to 2009–10 49 Figure 3.20 Reserved judgments outstanding (pending) less than 3 months, at 30 June 2005–06 to 2009–10 50 Figure 3.21 Time for reserved judgments outstanding (pending), at 30 June 2005–06 to 2009–10 50 Figure 3.22 Applications finalised within 12 months, 2005–06 to 2009–10 52 Figure 3.23 Final order applications, time to finalise, 2005–06 to 2009–10 52 Figure 3.24 Applications in a case, time to finalise, 2005–06 to 2009–10 53 Figure 3.25 Consent order applications, time to finalise, 2005–06 to 2009–10 53 Figure 3.26 All applications, time to finalise, 2005–06 to 2009–10 54 Figure 3.27 Reserved judgments delivered within three months, 2005–06 to 2008–09 (final only) & 2009–10 (all) 55 Figure 3.28 Reserved judgments, time to deliver, 2005–06 to 2008–09 (final only) & 2009–10 (all) 55 Figure 3.29 Total judicial complaints, 2005–06 to 2009–10 56 4 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010 Figure 3.30 Judicial complaints, 2005–06 to 2009–10 57 Figure 3.31 Proportion of litigants representation status, finalised cases, 2005–06 to 2009–10 58 Figure 3.32 Proportion of litigants representation status, trials, 2005–06 to 2009–10 59 Figure 3.33 Per cent of cases where majority time children spend with parents for finalised litigated cases 2007–08 to 2009–10 60 Figure 3.34 Per cent of cases where minority of time children spend with parents for finalised litigated cases 2007–08 to 2009–10 60 Figure 3.35 Per cent of cases where majority time children spend with parents for finalised consent cases 2007–08 to 2009–10 61 Figure 3.36 Per cent of cases where minority time children spend with parents for finalised consent cases 2007–08 to 2009–10 61 Figure 3.37 Most common reason why mothers had less than 30 per cent of time spent with children for finalised litigated cases 2007–08 to 2009–10 62 Figure 3.38 Most common reason why fathers had less than 30 per cent of time spent with children for finalised litigated cases 2007–08 to 2009–10 62 Figure 3.39 Notices of child abuse or risk of family violence filed, 2005–06 to 2009–10 63 Figure 3.40 Proportion of final order cases in which a notice of child abuse or risk of family violence is filed, 2005–06 to 2009–10 63 Figure 3.41 Magellan cases, 2005–06 to 2009–10 64 Figure 3.42 Administration complaints, 2005–06 to 2009–10 69 Figure 3.43 Complaints, 2005–06 to 2009–10 69 Figure 4.1 Notice of appeals, 2005–06 to 2009–10 76 Figure 4.2