FCFCOA updates general federal law and migration practice directions and forms

Practice directions

The central practice direction for general federal law proceedings removed child support from the types of proceedings within the FCFCOA’s general federal law jurisdiction, with child support proceedings now heard in the family law jurisdiction. 

Updates to section 8, regarding ending a proceeding early, aimed to reflect that parties could file a discontinuance notice before the first court date or before the pleadings’ closure, if the proceedings continued on pleadings. 

This practice direction also had the following additions: 

• item 3.2 on the overarching purpose, with parties and their lawyers obliged to co-operate with the court and amongst practitioners 
• section 4, which provides the procedural requirements for parties to file urgent applications 
• item 6.3 on case management, with a party expected to seek all other parties’ consent to adjourn a hearing or vacate a listing date 
• item 8.2, which allowed the filing of a discontinuance notice at a later date with the court’s leave or the other parties’ consent, if there has been no entry of judgment 
• section 10 on parties’ conduct and communication, with parties required to communicate with each other, the court, and its staff 

The central practice direction for migration proceedings had a new section 3, which covered: 

• the assignment of pseudonyms to litigants 
• the requirements for naming parties in migration proceedings 
• the requirement for all court documents to include the details of the person who prepared the document, regardless of whether they were a lawyer 
• the obligations under s 486E of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) 
• the requirements to notify other parties when filing documents with the court 

This practice direction also included the following additions: 

• section 4 on how the court triages matters before their allocation for a judicial officer’s determination 
• section 5, with the requirements for filing urgent applications 
• section 6 on non-removal from Australia of detainees with court litigation 
• section 7 regarding matters concerning a party in immigration detention 
• section 8, which obligates the minister’s solicitor to prepare a court book and its required contents, as well as the requirements if a party sought to rely on authorities 
• section 9 on interview or hearing audio and transcripts 
• section 10 concerning adjournment requests 
• section 12 regarding the requirements for direct access barristers 
• section 13 on parties’ conduct and communication with the court 

The general federal law practice direction for admiralty and maritime proceedings: 

• added item 1.2 to reflect the parties’ duty to act consistently with the overarching purpose and the practitioners’ obligation to help parties meet this duty 
• deleted section 8 on urgent applications, given the new section 4 in the central practice direction for general federal law proceedings 

The general federal law practice direction for intellectual property proceedings: 

• condensed section 5 on urgent applications to remove instructions for filing urgent applications 
• added items 7.2 and 7.3 under case management, which required parties to assist the court in achieving the FCFCOA Act’s overarching purpose and expected parties to genuinely attempt to resolve or narrow down disputed issues 
• added item 4 in the central practice direction for general federal law proceedings, which included considerations for parties and their lawyers 

Forms

In its media release, the FCFCOA also noted the following changes relevant to forms: 

• new or updated court forms 
• updated bankruptcy court forms 
• new or revised general federal law and migration law forms 
• updated family law forms for general federal law and migration proceedings 

Lastly, the court shared that some court forms featured no substantial changes, while others were no longer necessary.