In a model that is internationally unique, Registrars of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia work alongside highly skilled experts in children’s best interests. Over 100 Court Child Experts (CCEs) work closely with Registrars in the provision of key early reports identifying risks and the child’s experience of their parents’ conflict. Those reports are invaluable resources for Registrars in case management, interim determinations and dispute resolution.

To help practitioners to understand and take advantage of this interdisciplinary model, with Registrars and CCEs working in collaboration to help parents resolve parenting disputes, Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice is joined by a Senior Judicial Registrar and a Senior Court Child Expert.

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Dispute resolution is not a single event. It’s a process that begins as soon as a Registrar of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia first engages with a matter. It’s a process that has begun before the parties even come to the court. Resolutionists are those expert lawyers who look for ways to promote movement - even of the smallest kind - towards closure. They are optimists who remain focused on the potential for resolution even when the circumstances are challenging.

The FCFCOA is fortunate to have so many dedicated and passionate resolutionists in the Registrar ranks. In this episode, Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice is joined by three such Registrars to explore the challenges and opportunities of this powerful work.

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The overwhelming majority of matters before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia do not proceed to trial, or are resolved by agreement with the assistance of Registrars. Many parties to proceedings will not see a Judge and appearances before Registrars will be their only experience of the courts.

This is because of the carefully designed case management pathway managed and implemented by Registrars. Effective case management focuses on identifying barriers to resolution and addressing them - whether that be through an interim hearing, expert report or dispute resolution conference, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Case management involves more than just identifying the legal issues, and in this episode Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice is joined by two Registrars who explain what practitioners can do to help move their matters to closure and what should be avoided.

Find out more about the Lighthouse program here. Find out more about the case management pathway and lists mentioned in this episode, including the Evatt list, here.

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A very significant proportion of the matters before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia involve allegations of family violence and other risk factors including child abuse, drug and alcohol misuse and mental health which compromises the safety of a child. The Courts provide a number of specialist lists and case management approaches designed to identify and respond to allegations of risk. Examples of these innovations include the Magellan list, which carefully case manages complex matters including those involving child sexual abuse or possession of child sexual exploitation material, the Evatt list, which offers a careful and thoughtful approach to cases involving multiple complex risk factors and Priority Property Pools cases, which allow for the identification and close case management of financial cases at risk of non-compliance or disproportionate costs caused by a party’s attempts to delay.

The opportunities and advantages of these lists are explained by two of our experienced Registrars in this discussion, led by Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice.

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Working in family law inevitably involves working with vulnerable parties at a particularly difficult time in their lives. Families in the family law system often have traumatic histories as a result of exposure to family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, systemic racism and inter-generational trauma, geographic displacement or disability.

Understanding both how to work with parties in a trauma informed way and understanding the impact of vicarious trauma is the subject of this discussion with three Registrars of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, led by Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice.

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Senior Judicial Registrars, Judicial Registrars, Deputy Registrars, delegations, directions and determinations. With almost 150 registrars working across 15 Registries of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, some legal practitioners might not be completely clear on who does what in the Courts’ case management pathway.

In this episode Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice is joined by a Senior Judicial Registrar, a Judicial Registrar and a Deputy Registrar, to talk about their roles and responsibilities, and how legal practitioners can best serve their clients by being aware of their practices and delegated powers.

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Good family lawyers know there is so much more to practice than just knowing the law. Understanding the needs of children and the impact of conflict on them is key to effective, compassionate, advocacy and resolution. Understanding the impact of family violence on victims - and on practitioners sitting consistently with the conflict of others is crucial to effective, compassionate advocacy. In recent years the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia have invested in the early identification of the experiences of children and to improving systemic responses to risk and family violence.

In this episode, Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director National Registrar Operations and Practice Anne-Marie Rice is joined by Janet Carmichael, Executive Director of the Court Children’s Service and Hayley Foster, Director of Family Violence, Access, Equity and Inclusion for a conversation about how the Courts benefit from the knowledge of experts in areas that complement and inform the work of legal practitioners, Registrars and Judges.

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A brief trailer introducing this series from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

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