Family Court/FMC review
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland has commenced a review of the operation of the Family and Federal Magistrates Courts.
A review has seemed inevitable when the Family Court has received the bulk of the funding but the Federal Magistrates Court has been growing exponentially and now undertakes the bulk of the work.
The structure of what might come to pass is unknown, but one possible option is for the magistrates to be a first tier of the Family Court in an integrated structure.
The Australian Financial Review has been gleefully reporting apparent disputes between the two courts for some times, including an argument in Adelaide about tea bags and biscuits.
