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Family lawyers to be charged with personal cost orders for compliance breaches
Along with a number of changes to the family law system, the newly merged Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia promises to crack down on court order compliance issues and breaches to significantly reduce the time spent in court.
Naomi Neilson
Being the “worst jurisdiction” in Australian law to manage compliance issues, Chief Justice Will Alstergren said it can often take up to 18 months to resolve the breach. By introducing the National Contravention List, the merged court hopes to reduce the wait times and put applications before contravention judicial officers within 14 days.
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“Compliance in family law has long been a real problem for our system. It is perhaps the worst jurisdiction in Australia for compliance, and it’s not just unrepresented litigants that don’t comply. Time and again, we find a lack of compliance interferes with the effectiveness of the new court, but also the confidence that people have in our justice system,” the Chief Justice said during a NSW Law Society event.
The planned crackdown on compliance breaches is “great news” for the profession, Justice Family Lawyers principal Hayder Shkara said. The issues with compliance in the family law system have resulted in the public “viewing the court as weak and negligent when it comes to enforcing orders”, Mr Shkara added.
The new court will address the ongoing problems of individuals flouting court orders with the new list, which will consist of contravention applications filed when a court order breach takes place. Parties who breach court orders can face costs consequences and legal practitioners may be subject to personal cost orders.
“Mums and dads have been complaining about the enforceability of orders for years. If the court can manage a 14-day turnaround of contravention applications, then the new National Contravention List will really benefit Australians,” Mr Shkara said.
He added that vulnerable people may be reluctant to apply for court orders if they do not trust that the court will enforce them. The introduction of the list is a welcome change to increase public confidence which, in turn, will encourage more vulnerable people “to seek the protection they need through orders they trust will be enforced”.
