Should I file my parenting application in the Family Court Or Federal Circuit Court of Australia?

If any one of the following criteria applies to you, then your application for Final Orders ordinarily should be filed and/or heard in the Family Court of Australia:

1. International child abduction.

2. International relocation.

3. Disputes as to whether a case should be heard in Australia.

4. Special medical procedures (of the type such as gender reassignment or sterilisation).

5. Contravention and related applications in parenting cases relating to orders which have been made in Family Court of Australia proceedings; which have reached final stage of hearing or a judicial determination and which have been made within 12 months prior to filing.

6. Serious allegations of sexual abuse of a child serious allegations of physical abuse of a child or serious controlling family violence warranting the attention of a superior court.

7. Complex questions of jurisdiction or law.

8. If the matter proceeds to a final hearing, it is likely it would take in excess of four days of hearing time.

NOTE: The Family Court of Australia has exclusive jurisdiction in relation to adoption and the validity of marriages and divorces.

Otherwise, your matter, generally speaking, should be filed and/or heard in the Federal Circuit Court.

If your case falls outside the above criteria, and is filed in the Family Law Court, it may be that it is transferred to the Federal Circuit Court. The Registrars of the Family Court of Australia have power to transfer such cases to the Federal Circuit Court.

You must ensure that your Application is filed in the correct Court, as a transfer may cause undue delay and unnecessarily increase your costs at what is already an extremely stressful time for you.

We encourage you to contact the Family Law Team here at Taylor & Scott if you wish to discuss your Parenting matter or any other parenting issue that you may have prior to filing an Application for Final Orders in the Family Law Courts.

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