Sections 21A, 22 (2AA), (2AB) & (2AC) of the Family Law Act 1975 provide for an Appeal Division for the Family Court.
The members of the Appeal Division of the Court are the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice and such other judges, not exceeding nine in number, as are assigned to the Appeal Division.
At 30 June 2012, the judges assigned to the Appeal Division were:
The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia is made up of three or more judges of the Court; the majority must be members of the Appeal Division (Family Law Act 1975 ss 4 and 21A).
The appellate jurisdiction of the Family Court is defined in Part X of the Family Law Act, in Part VIII of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 and Part 7 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989.
An appeal lies to the Full Court from a decree of the Family Court at first instance under the Family Law Act and (with leave) under the Child Support Acts.
An appeal also lies to the Full Court of the Family Court from a decree of the Family Court of Western Australia; or the Supreme Court of a state or a territory, constituted by a single judge exercising jurisdiction under the Family Law Act and (with leave) under the Child Support Acts.
An appeal also lies to the Family Court of Australia from a decree of the Federal Magistrates Court exercising jurisdiction under the Family Law Act and (with leave) the Child Support Acts. The jurisdiction of the Court in relation to such appeals is to be exercised by a Full Court unless the Chief Justice considers it appropriate for a single judge to exercise the jurisdiction of the court in relation to such an appeal (s 94AAA(3)).
During 2011-12, the Full Court sat for 23 weeks (including some part weeks). Appeals are also heard by way of video-link from time to time.
Appeals are administered by an Appeals Registrar in three areas:
Western Australia is separately administered by a Registrar of the Family Court of Western Australia.
The number of appeals filed in 2011-12 increased by 14 per cent from 328 to 373. In the same period the number of appeals finalised increased by two per cent from 325 to 332. The nett affect is that pending (active) cases increased to 273, an increase of 34 per cent.
It should be noted that during the year it became apparent that cases from Western Australia were understated in previous years due to incomplete data entry. This has largely accounted for increases in 2011-12. As a result, changes in figures from last year should be interpreted with some caution.
There were 14 per cent more appeals from the Federal Magistrates Court whilst appeals from the Family Court also rose by 13 per cent.
Many appeals from the Federal Magistrates Court are dealt with by a single judge and do not require the convening of a bench of three or more judges.
Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1 show the trend in appeal notices filed, finalised and pending during the last five financial years.
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | % change from 2010-11 to 2011-12 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filed | ||||||
| Family Court of Australia | 153 | 160 | 113 | 135 | 153 | 13% |
| Federal Magistrates Court | 196 | 204 | 202 | 193 | 220 | 14% |
| Appeals filed | 349 | 364 | 315 | 328 | 373 | 14% |
| Per cent from Family Court of Australia | 44% | 44% | 36% | 41% | 41% | 0% |
| Per cent from Federal Magistrates Court | 56% | 56% | 64% | 59% | 59% | 0% |
| Finalised | ||||||
| Family Court of Australia | 171 | 170 | 144 | 129 | 138 | 7% |
| Federal Magistrates Court | 147 | 191 | 201 | 196 | 194 | -1% |
| Appeals finalised | 318 | 361 | 345 | 325 | 332 | 2% |
| Per cent from Family Court of Australia | 54% | 47% | 42% | 40% | 42% | 2% |
| Per cent from Federal Magistrates Court | 46% | 53% | 58% | 60% | 58% | -2% |
| Pending | ||||||
| Family Court of Australia | 121 | 124 | 93 | 97 | 132 | 36% |
| Federal Magistrates Court | 95 | 106 | 108 | 106 | 141 | 33% |
| Appeals pending | 216 | 230 | 201 | 203 | 273 | 34% |
| Per cent from Family Court of Australia | 56% | 54% | 46% | 48% | 48% | 1%* |
| Per cent from Federal Magistrates Court | 44% | 46% | 54% | 52% | 52% | -1%* |
* Rounded to whole number.
The proportion of Family Law Court appeals arising from decrees of the Family Court remained steady at 41 per cent in 2011-12.
Figure 4.2 shows the proportion of appeal filings resulting from a decree made either in the Federal Magistrates Court or in the Family Court.
The number of appeals that were allowed or dismissed increased by four per cent in 2011-12.
The total number of appeals withdrawn or abandoned fell by one per cent from 147 to 146. Withdrawn applications increased from 57 to 65 while abandoned applications fell from 90 to 81.
Figure 4.4 Proportion of Notice of appeals finalised by type of finalisation, 2007-08 to 2011-12
Note: Figures may not add to 100%. This is due to rounding only.
The historical trend in gender remains stable: males were more likely to lodge appeals than females (Figure 4.5)
Note: Figures may not add to 100%. This is due to rounding only.
Figure 4.6 shows a change in the trend towards self-representation. In 2011-12, the proportion of self-represented appellants remained steady at 38 per cent.
In 2011-12, the Court finalised 78 per cent of appeals within 12 months (82 per cent in 2010-11). Figure 4.7 shows the time taken to finalise appeals over the past five years.
Figure 4.7 Months to finalise appeals, 2007-08 to 2011-12
Section 95 of the Family Law Act 1975 provides that an appeal does not lie to the High Court from a decree of a court exercising jurisdiction under the Family Law Act, whether original or appellate, except by special leave of the High Court.
During 2011-12, six applications for special leave to appeal were filed in the High Court from judgments of the Family Court.
During 2011-12, 10 applications for special leave were determined by the High Court and one was granted and nine were refused.