Operating context

Environment

The Listed Entity’s operating environment shapes how we deliver on our purpose and key activities. Each year, the Listed Entity undertakes regular reviews of its operating environment, challenges, and risks to ensure its performance goals and operational plans are fit for purpose and can support the work of the Federal Court of Australia, the FCFCOA (Division 1), the FCFCOA (Division 2) and the Native Title Tribunal.

The main environmental drivers are government policy and legislative change, technological improvement, and social and economic change.

Government policy and legislative change

Government policy and legislative change affects not only the jurisdiction of the Courts and the Native Title Tribunal, but their workloads and operating environments. As a result, the Listed Entity needs agile and flexible resources, systems, and people, to ensure it can respond to change in the fastest and most cost-effective way. Existing legislative factors that could impact our environment over the period of this plan include:

• In the May 2024 Federal Budget, the Federal Court of Australia received funding under the ‘Enhancing First Nations Justice Policy Outcomes’ measure which will support the digitisation of records in the Federal Court’s native title practice area, especially records of proceedings from the Court’s early years in its native title work. These records are priceless to First Nations communities to whom they relate and are a critical aspect of Australia’s historical record. They will eventually be available, in accordance with the Court’s processes, to the native title holding communities whose evidence, narratives and stories contributed to the recognition of native title in their country. This funding will also, separately, enable additional case management, mediation, and determination of native title proceedings in ways which will emphasise traditional owner led agreement making, and give priority to working with First Nations facilitators and mediators, as well as enabling the Federal Court to do more on country work.
• In the 2024–25 Federal Budget, the Courts received additional funding under a budget measure directed at the migration system.
  • For the Federal Court of Australia, these funds will cover additional judges and staff to support work in the migration practice area, to recognise the flow through effects that the federal government’s policies to address migration backlogs in the Department of Immigration, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)/ Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) and the FCFCOA (Division 2) – have on the Federal Court.
  • For the FCFCOA (Division 2), funding to support the migration caseload, first as part of the October 2023–24 MYEFO, and second as part of the 2024–25 Federal Budget, provides a significant injection of resources to assist with efficiently resolving migration cases. This includes the appointment of additional judges and support staff, registrars, Cultural Liaison Officers, and other staff to assist with the handling of interpreter requests and referrals to pro bono legal assistance. It also includes capital funding that provides for purpose-built court facilities. The funding provided will not only assist the Court in being able to efficiently dispose of the migration caseload, but it will also have a significant impact on equitable access to the Court for litigants in the migration jurisdiction. Several related operational and infrastructure changes will be required to support these measures, and the Listed Entity will work closely with the Court to ensure that changes are implemented as seamlessly as possible.
• On 12 June 2024, following Royal Assent of the Attorney-General’s Portfolio Miscellaneous Measures Act 2024, the Federal Court of Australia’s jurisdiction to hear a wide range of indictable criminal offences was expanded. The Federal Court now has jurisdiction to hear a range of indictable criminal offences contained in the Corporations Act 2001, Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, and Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993. Furthermore, the Court also has jurisdiction in relation to various indictable offences contained in the Criminal Code (Cth).
• On 1 January 2024, funding received in the 2023–24 Federal Budget in relation to Hague child abduction matters provided for the FCFCOA (Division 1) to employ mediators and Court Child Experts to provide dispute resolution services for proceedings under the 1980 Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This allows the Court to make safe and effective alternative dispute resolution opportunities available at an early stage of the process with the aim of diverting families from contested proceedings under the 1980 Convention.
• On 6 May 2024, the commencement of the Family Law Amendment Act 2023 (Cth) saw several significant changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), particularly in relation to the framework for parenting cases. The amendments include new laws about what the Courts must consider when determining what is in the child’s best interests; changes to the law about parenting arrangements, including removing the presumption of equal shared responsibility; simpler compliance and enforcement provisions for child-related orders; and new powers for the Courts to prevent harmful litigation. A substantial amount of related work was required to prepare the FCFCOA (Division 1) and the FCFCOA (Division 2) for the changes to the legislation, which has included updating Court Rules, forms, and practice directions, as well as related IT changes, the delivery of communications and external education.
• The further proposed legislative amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) articulated in the Family Law Amendment Bill (No 2) 2023, would have significant operational and budgetary implications if passed. The amendments are aimed at making the law simpler and safer for separating couples to resolve their property and financial matters, including identifying in the Family Law Act how the financial impact of family violence may be considered in property settlements. The proposed amendments would be of particular significance in the context of family law property proceedings, among other things, and would require significant adjustments to the Courts’ operations.
• On 6 May 2024, the commencement of the Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Act 2023 (Cth) saw an enhanced information scheme as envisaged by the National Framework for Information Sharing between the family law and family violence and child protection systems. This required significant ongoing engagement with the States and Territories to facilitate implementation, as well as several IT, operational and infrastructure changes.
• On 3 June 2024, the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 received royal assent and came into effect. The Act abolishes the AAT and replaces it with a new federal administrative review body, the ART. The new Tribunal will commence on 14 October 2024. In 2023, the government made 116 additional member appointments to the AAT to address the existing backlog of cases and the appointment of 10 new members to boost the capacity of the AAT to deal with its significant protection vias and other migration-related caseloads. These reforms will likely result in a significant volume of matters flowing through to the Courts if there is an accelerated disposition of the ART’s caseload following its commencement.

Technological improvement

The Listed Entity continues to focus on delivering improved digital capabilities to ensure efficient, contemporary technical services are provided across the Courts and the Native Title Tribunal.

Electronic court files and case management, along with eFiling and eLodgment services, reduce cost and time for litigants and enable efficient national operations for the Courts and the Native Title Tribunal. Since March 2024, all Court files are accessible through a modernised platform (CourtPath), with remaining case management functions to be integrated into the system throughout the 2024–25 financial year. Additionally, investigations are underway into how the Courts may better utilise cloud platforms to ensure services are efficient, secure, and reliably delivered.

Hearings, mediation, and dispute resolution are now often conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams or Cisco video conferencing, in court, or hybrid with in-person and remote participants. Over 80 per cent of courtrooms nationally have been upgraded to modern videoconferencing and audio.

All courtrooms have standard hearing loop technology for hearing impaired participants. Judicial officers balance the complexity of the matter, and the benefits of in-person appearance and efficiency for participants. For example, case management and interlocutory hearings may be managed via video conference to progress efficiently through listed matters, and vulnerable parties can be securely connected to the Court without the potential impact of physical proximity to other parties.

In line with the principles of open justice, live streaming is now frequently used to allow the media and interested members of the public to view proceedings openly and transparently where appropriate. In some cases, such as where there are privacy or security issues, edited video of the proceedings is uploaded for later public viewing. This has been well received for high profile matters.

Technological improvements implemented throughout the COVID-19 pandemic are now normalised practice and provide greater access to justice to litigants in regional and rural Australia. Similarly, online tools provide improved safety for vulnerable litigants, and allow for the efficient and effective utilisation of judicial and registrar resources on a national basis.

The Listed Entity has made significant advancements in its digital practice, and further work will be conducted over the life of this plan to embrace and expand these new technologies. This includes:

• ongoing modernisation of core court case and file management systems
• redesigning court networks to better support remote and hybrid hearings and working
• ongoing improvements to video conferencing equipment and streaming technology
• enhancing cybersecurity to protect against current and emerging threats
• upgrading underlying platforms to enable improved robustness and effectiveness
• taking advantage of the benefits of digital litigation, and
• consolidating services and optimising costs.

The Courts have continued to utilise both in-person and remote hearings depending on what best serves the interests of justice. While most final hearings are being conducted in-person, remote hearings and dispute resolution events continue to be held often where it is efficient, where it provides increased access to justice, such as for legal practitioners and litigants in interstate or regional locations, or where there are safety concerns with respect to attending a court registry.

Extensive technological work continues to be undertaken in support of the expansion of Lighthouse to its two primary systems: the Lighthouse Application and the Family DOORS Triage Application. The focus of this work has been improving court user functionality, additional and improved data collection, improvements to existing workflows including identifying voided matters, access code reset processes, and reminder structures, and re-coding the existing Family DOORS Triage Application to allow for future integration into the Lighthouse Application and courts systems more broadly.

Social and economic change

The expectations and types of court users, clients and stakeholders will continue to evolve over the next four years in an adjustment to the hybrid in-person/remote court environment. While technology provides a lower cost option to meet expectations, defining stakeholder needs and developing tailored responses creates significant workload.

For the Courts and the Native Title Tribunal, this also includes maintaining a balance between leveraging the benefits of technology to improve access, but also ensuring they meet the needs of clients in remote areas where access to technology can be not only cost prohibitive, but inaccessible in some areas. The result is a hybrid in-person/ electronic court environment, which has required flexibility and adjustment from the Courts and from court users and stakeholders. These changes are the subject of ongoing refinement and will remain a focus of the Listed Entity across the four years of this plan.

The Listed Entity is committed to proactively contributing towards achieving the priority reforms articulated in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. This includes supporting the Courts and the Native Title Tribunal in the development and implementation of further Reconciliation Action Plans, the continued development and delivery of tailored cultural learning, cultural safety and cultural competency training and education for Judges and staff, improved collection, maintenance, and use of Indigenous data to promote Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance, in alignment with the Framework for the Governance of Indigenous Data, and continued community engagement and consultation to ensure that policies and initiatives are appropriately co-designed and culturally responsive to the needs of communities.