Cases that come to the Family Court that involve allegations of sexual abuse and/or serious physical abuse of a child go into the Court’s Magellan program. The Magellan program is specifically designed for cases involving the most vulnerable children. The program aims to deal with these cases as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Where a Notice of Child Abuse, Family Violence, or Risk of Family Violence (Form 4)alleging sexual abuse and/or serious physical abuse of a child is filed in a case involving an application for parenting orders, the application is referred to the Family Court Magellan registrar to consider listing to the Magellan program.
A Magellan team is made up of judges, registrars and family consultants who manage the cases. The same team endeavours to work on each case from start to finish.