Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia - Rules of Court - Family Law, General Federal law and Bankruptcy

27/08/2021

The Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia has advised that new Rules regarding the family law and child support jurisdictions and general federal law and bankruptcy proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) have been made and will commence on 1 September 2021.

Below is a brief summary of the new rule instruments.

1. Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021

These rules are the harmonised family law rules. They are made under the Division 1 power to make rules of court in section 76 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (FCFCOA Act), and in the first instance, only apply to the FCFCOA Division 1. They are adopted to apply in the FCFCOA Division 2 by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (Family Law) Rules 2021, and in other courts exercising jurisdiction under the Family Law Act 1975, such as State and Territory courts, by the Family Law (State and Territory Courts) Rules 2021. They are referred to and defined as the ‘Family Law Rules 2021’ in the practice directions, forms and on the website.

2. Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (Family Law) Rules 2021

These rules adopt the harmonised family law rules for the FCFCOA Division 2. They are made under the Division 2 power to make rules of court in section 217 of the FCFCOA Act. Aside from adopting the Family Law Rules 2021, there are a small number of additional rules contained in these rules dealing with:

• Transfers from Division 2 to Division 1;

• The retention of the existing FCC scale of costs for family law or child support proceedings (with updated amounts), which may be applied instead of the scale of costs in Schedule 3 to the Family Law Rules 2021;

• The delegation of Division 2 specific powers to registrars.

3. Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021

These rules are the relevant provisions of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 that applied to general federal law proceedings renumbered and updated where necessary. The Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 are automatically repealed by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2021 on 1 September 2021.

4. Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (Bankruptcy) Rules 2021

These rules are the provisions of the Federal Circuit Court(Bankruptcy) Rules 2016 that applied to bankruptcy proceedings renumbered and updated where necessary. The Federal Circuit Court (Bankruptcy) Rules 2016 are automatically repealed by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2021 on 1 September 2021.

5. Family Law Repeal Rules 2021

These rules repeal the Family Law Rules 2004.

6. Family Law (State and Territory Courts) Rules 2021

These rules are the standard rules of court made under section 123 of the Family Law Act for all other courts exercising jurisdiction under the Family Law Act aside from the FCFCOA. This instrument also incorporates the recently made Family Court Rules 2021 (WA) as the rules of court that apply in the Family Court of Western Australia and the Magistrates Court of Western Australia, and clarifies that those rules prevail in proceedings in the WA courts to the extent of any inconsistency with these Rules.

All of the rule instruments and other relevant documents including cross-reference tables and transitional arrangements can be accessed here.

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