Part 1: Overview of the Federal Court of Australia

Federal Court of Australia Annual Report 2014-2015

Establishment

The Federal Court of Australia was created by the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and began to exercise its jurisdiction on 1 February 1977.

It assumed jurisdiction formerly exercised in part by the High Court of Australia and the whole jurisdiction of the Australian Industrial Court and the Federal Court of Bankruptcy.

The Court is a superior court of record and a court of law and equity. It sits in all capital cities and elsewhere in Australia from time to time.

Objectives

The objectives of the Court are to:

Decide disputes according to law – promptly, courteously and effectively and, in so doing, to interpret the statutory law and develop the general law of the Commonwealth, so as to fulfil the role of a court exercising the judicial power of the Commonwealth under the Constitution.
Provide an effective registry service to the community.
Manage the resources allotted by Parliament efficiently.

Functions and powers

The Court’s original jurisdiction is conferred by over 150 statutes of the Parliament. A list of these Acts is available in the jurisdiction section of the Court’s website www.fedcourt.gov.au.

The Court has a substantial and diverse appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from decisions of single judges of the Court and from the Federal Circuit Court in non-family law matters. The Court also exercises general appellate jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters on appeal from the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island. The Court’s jurisdiction is described more fully in Part 3.

The Court's outcome and programme structure

The Court’s outcome and programme structure appears in Part 4 on page 48.

This report uses the outcome and programme structure to outline the Court’s work and performance during 2014–15. Part 3 reports on these issues in detail.

Judges of the Court

The Federal Court of Australia Act provides that the Court consists of a Chief Justice and other judges as appointed. The Chief Justice is the senior judge of the Court and is responsible for managing the business of the Court.

Judges of the Court are appointed by the Governor- General by commission and may not be removed except by the Governor-General on an address from both Houses of Parliament in the same session.

All judges must retire at the age of seventy.

Judges, other than the Chief Justice, may hold more than one judicial office. Most judges hold other commissions and appointments.

At 30 June 2015 there were forty-six judges of the Court. They are listed below in order of seniority with details about any other commissions or appointments held on courts or tribunals. Of the forty-six judges, there were two whose work as members of other courts or tribunals occupied all, or most, of their time.

Judges of the Court (as at 30 June 2015)

Judge	Location	Other Commissions/Appointments
Chief Justice The Hon James Leslie Bain ALLSOP AO	Sydney
The Hon Shane Raymond MARSHALL	Melbourne	Industrial Relations Court of Australia – Judge
The Hon Anthony Max NORTH	Melbourne	Industrial Relations Court of Australia – Judge Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon John Ronald MANSFIELD AM	Adelaide	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Supreme Court of the NT – Additional Judge Australian Competition Tribunal – Part-time President Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member Aboriginal Land Commissioner – Part-time
The Hon John Alfred DOWSETT AM	Brisbane	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon Susan Coralie KENNY	Melbourne	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Annabelle Claire BENNETT AO	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member Copyright Tribunal – President
The Hon Antony Nicholas SIOPIS	Perth	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Richard Francis EDMONDS	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Andrew Peter GREENWOOD	Brisbane	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Steven David RARES	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon Berna COLLIER	Brisbane	Australian Law Reform Commission – Part-time Commissioner Supreme and National Courts of Justice of Papua New Guinea – Judge Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Anthony James BESANKO	Adelaide	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Supreme Court of Norfolk Island – Chief Justice
The Hon Christopher Neil JESSUP	Melbourne
The Hon Richard Ross Sinclair TRACEY AM RFD	Melbourne	Australian Defence Force – Judge Advocate General Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal – President
The Hon John Eric MIDDLETON	Melbourne	Australian Competition Tribunal – Part-time Deputy President Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member Australian Law Reform Commission – Part-time Commissioner
The Hon Robert John BUCHANAN	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Supreme Court of Norfolk Island – Judge
The Hon John GILMOUR	Perth	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Supreme Court of Norfolk Island – Judge
The Hon John Alexander LOGAN RFD	Brisbane	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal – Member Supreme and National Courts of Justice of Papua New Guinea – Judge
The Hon Geoffrey Alan FLICK	Sydney
The Hon Neil Walter McKERRACHER	Perth
The Hon John Edward REEVES	Brisbane	Supreme Court of the NT – Additional Judge
The Hon Nye PERRAM	Sydney	Copyright Tribunal – Deputy President Australian Law Reform Commission – Part-time Commissioner Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Jayne Margaret JAGOT	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member Copyright Tribunal – Deputy President
The Hon Lindsay Graeme FOSTER	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge Australian Competition Tribunal – Part-time Deputy President
The Hon Michael Laurence BARKER	Perth	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon John Victor NICHOLAS	Sydney
The Hon David Markey YATES	Sydney
The Hon Mordecai BROMBERG	Melbourne
The Hon Anna Judith KATZMANN	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon Alan ROBERTSON	Sydney	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Bernard MURPHY	Melbourne
The Hon Iain James Kerr ROSS AO	Melbourne	Fair Work Australia – President Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon John Edward GRIFFITHS	Sydney
The Hon Duncan James Colquhoun KERR Chev LH	Hobart	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – President
The Hon Lucy Kathleen FARRELL	Sydney	Australian Competition Tribunal – Part-time Deputy President
The Hon Tony PAGONE	Melbourne	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Jennifer DAVIES	Melbourne	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Debra Sue MORTIMER	Melbourne
The Hon Darryl Cameron RANGIAH	Brisbane	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon Richard Conway WHITE	Adelaide	Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Presidential Member
The Hon Michael Andrew WIGNEY	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon Melissa Anne PERRY	Sydney	Supreme Court of the ACT – Additional Judge
The Hon Jacqueline Sarah GLEESON	Sydney
The Hon Jonathan Barry Rashleigh BEACH	Melbourne
The Hon James Joshua EDELMAN	Brisbane

The Chief Justice was absent on the following dates during the year. Acting Chief Justice arrangements during these periods were as follows:

2–6 October 2014: The Hon Justice Mansfield AM
1 January 2015 – 2 February 2015: The Hon Justice NORTH
21–24 March 2015: The Hon Justice NORTH
30–31 March 2015: The Hon Justice NORTH
10–15 May 2015: The Hon Justice NORTH

Most of the judges of the Court devote some time to other courts and tribunals on which they hold commissions or appointments. Judges of the Court also spend a lot of time on activities related to legal education and the justice system. More information about these activities is set out in Part 3 and Appendix 8.

Appointments and retirements during 2014-15

During the year, one judge was appointed to the Court:

The Honourable James Joshua Edelman (resident in Brisbane) was appointed on 20 April 2015.

During the year, two judges retired or resigned from the Court:

The Honourable Justice Peter Michael Jacobson retired upon reaching the compulsory retirement age for federal judges on 5 January 2015.

The Honourable Michelle Marjorie Gordon resigned her commission as a judge of the Court with effect from 8 June 2015.

Other appointments, awards, resignations and retirements during the year include:

Justice Tracey reappointed as President of the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal on 17 August 2014.
Justices Collier and Logan were reappointed as judges in Papua New Guinea on 6 December 2014.
Justice Rangiah was appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory on 15 December 2014.
Justice Besanko was appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island on 26 February 2015.
Justice Gilmour was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island on 26 February 2015.
Justices Pagone and White were appointed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal as Presidential Members on 29 May 2015.
Justice Perram was appointed as Deputy President of the Copyright Tribunal on 8 June 2015.

FEDERAL COURT REGISTRIES

REGISTRAR

Mr Warwick Soden OAM is the Registrar of the Court. The Registrar is appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Chief Justice. The Registrar has the same powers as the Head of a Statutory Agency of the Australian Public Service in respect of the officers and staff of the Court employed under the Public Service Act 1999 (section 18Q of the Federal Court of Australia Act).

PRINCIPAL AND DISTRICT REGISTRIES

The Principal Registry of the Court, located in Sydney, is responsible for the overall administrative policies and functions of the Court’s registries and provides policy advice, human resources, financial management, information technology support, library services, property management and support to the judges’ committees.

There is a District Registry of the Court in each capital city. The District Registries provide operational support to the judges in each state, as well as registry services to legal practitioners and members of the public. The registries receive court and related documents, assist with the arrangement of court sittings and facilitate the enforcement of orders made by the Court.

The Registry of the Copyright Tribunal is located in the New South Wales District Registry. The Victorian Registry is the Principal Registry for the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal. The South Australia Registry is the Principal Registry for the Australian Competition Tribunal. Most other District Registries are also registries for these two Tribunals. The Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory District Registries are registries for the High Court. The Tasmania District Registry provides registry services for the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The registries of the Court are also registries for the Federal Circuit Court in relation to non-family law matters.

More information on the management of the Court is outlined in Part 4.

OFFICERS OF THE COURT

Officers of the Court are appointed by the Registrar under section 18N of the Federal Court of Australia Act and are:

(a) a District Registrar for each District Registry

(b) Deputy Registrars and Deputy District Registrars

(d) Marshals under the Admiralty Act 1988

The registrars must take an oath or make an affirmation of office before undertaking their duties (section 18Y of the Federal Court of Australia Act). Registrars perform statutory functions assigned to them by the Federal Court of Australia Act, Federal Court Rules 2011, Federal Court (Bankruptcy) Rules 2005 and the Federal Court (Corporations) Rules 2000. These include issuing process, taxing costs and settling appeal indexes. They also exercise various powers delegated by judges under the Bankruptcy Act 1966, Corporations Act 2001 and Native Title Act 1993. A number of staff in each registry also perform functions and exercise delegated powers under the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999. Appendix 4 on page 134 lists the registrars of the Court.

STAFF OF THE COURT

The officers and staff of the Court (other than the Registrar and some Deputy Sheriffs and Marshals) are appointed or employed under the Public Service Act. On 30 June 2014 there were 464 staff employed under the Public Service Act. Generally, judges have two personal staff members. More details on court staff are set out in Part 4 and Appendix 9.

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