A blowout in Family Court delays is increasing the cost and trauma of breaking up, and it now takes more than two years to resolve difficult disputes.
Specialist lawyers say there are simply not enough judges to cope with demand, and the court's Chief Justice warns the delays may get worse.
Sydney's two family magistrates were appointed earlier this year to take some of the load, but they are so swamped their next available hearings are in April. No new hearings are being listed before judges this year.
Ninety per cent of defended cases in the Family Court are supposed to be completed within 11 months, but by the end of the last financial year it was 26.9 months.
Les Stubbs, head of family law at Turner Freeman, said cases ready to be heard in April were only now getting a trial. This meant that splitting couples who had paid for valuations - as much as $2000 for homes and $10,000 for companies - must have them valued yet again, at their own expense.
Psychiatric reports on their children also must be repeated.
John Barkus, a family law specialist at Barkus Edwards Doolan, used to tell his clients two years ago they should expect to wait between 15 and 18 months; now it is up to two years.
"The real problem is there aren't enough judges," he said. "The level of dissatisfaction can be seriously reduced if you throw a few more resources at this problem."
The Chief Justice of the Family Court, Diana Bryant, said she was concerned about the problem and was working "assiduously" to solve it. But without more resources, she warned, it may get worse.
Delays are particularly acute in Sydney, where a judge retired in February and a replacement was not announced until August - and then sent to Newcastle. Another judge has been seriously ill for three months.
"It effectively means almost 11 months of judge time has been lost this year," Justice Bryant said. "Another judge is expected to retire in October and the court does not yet know whether that judge will be replaced."
A freeze on new hearings was imposed to clear the backlog by the end of the year, while a new listing procedure was helping.
But the Chief Justice flagged an increased workload if the Government allows de-facto relationship disputes to be heard by the court. "At this stage, there is no guarantee of a corresponding increase in judicial resources to handle the anticipated extra work that proposed legislative change will create."
The Attorney-General, Phillip Ruddock, dismissed her concerns. "Additional resources have been provided for the Federal Magistrates Court to handle simple cases, thereby leaving the Family Court to focus on more complex matters," he said. "It is surprising [this extra help] has not impacted on waiting lists in Sydney in the way it has in other registries."
The shadow attorney-general, Nicola Roxon, said 24 months to resolve a contested custody case was "just not acceptable".
While Sydney's problems are recent, the wider crisis is not new. The Government committed to reduce delays as far back as 1998. In 2004 the Audit Office raised "significant concern" at the court's inability to meet its targets, saying delays increased emotional and financial hardship on families. But it said resources were a policy matter for the Government.
Anne Rees, a barrister specialising in family law said there was "no doubt" the delays had become worse. "It's certainly blown out now. I think it's been about the last 12 months that it's got really bad."
* The Family Court aims to have 90 per cent of hearings completed within 11 months - but in 2005-06 it was 26.9 months.
* There were 44 judges in July last year. Now: 41.
* Almost 11 months of "judge time" has been lost so far this year because retired or ill judges have not been replaced. authur smh 2006
Specialist lawyers say there are simply not enough judges to cope with demand, and the court's Chief Justice warns the delays may get worse.
Sydney's two family magistrates were appointed earlier this year to take some of the load, but they are so swamped their next available hearings are in April. No new hearings are being listed before judges this year.
Ninety per cent of defended cases in the Family Court are supposed to be completed within 11 months, but by the end of the last financial year it was 26.9 months.
Les Stubbs, head of family law at Turner Freeman, said cases ready to be heard in April were only now getting a trial. This meant that splitting couples who had paid for valuations - as much as $2000 for homes and $10,000 for companies - must have them valued yet again, at their own expense.
Psychiatric reports on their children also must be repeated.
John Barkus, a family law specialist at Barkus Edwards Doolan, used to tell his clients two years ago they should expect to wait between 15 and 18 months; now it is up to two years.
"The real problem is there aren't enough judges," he said. "The level of dissatisfaction can be seriously reduced if you throw a few more resources at this problem."
The Chief Justice of the Family Court, Diana Bryant, said she was concerned about the problem and was working "assiduously" to solve it. But without more resources, she warned, it may get worse.
Delays are particularly acute in Sydney, where a judge retired in February and a replacement was not announced until August - and then sent to Newcastle. Another judge has been seriously ill for three months.
"It effectively means almost 11 months of judge time has been lost this year," Justice Bryant said. "Another judge is expected to retire in October and the court does not yet know whether that judge will be replaced."
A freeze on new hearings was imposed to clear the backlog by the end of the year, while a new listing procedure was helping.
But the Chief Justice flagged an increased workload if the Government allows de-facto relationship disputes to be heard by the court. "At this stage, there is no guarantee of a corresponding increase in judicial resources to handle the anticipated extra work that proposed legislative change will create."
The Attorney-General, Phillip Ruddock, dismissed her concerns. "Additional resources have been provided for the Federal Magistrates Court to handle simple cases, thereby leaving the Family Court to focus on more complex matters," he said. "It is surprising [this extra help] has not impacted on waiting lists in Sydney in the way it has in other registries."
The shadow attorney-general, Nicola Roxon, said 24 months to resolve a contested custody case was "just not acceptable".
While Sydney's problems are recent, the wider crisis is not new. The Government committed to reduce delays as far back as 1998. In 2004 the Audit Office raised "significant concern" at the court's inability to meet its targets, saying delays increased emotional and financial hardship on families. But it said resources were a policy matter for the Government.
Anne Rees, a barrister specialising in family law said there was "no doubt" the delays had become worse. "It's certainly blown out now. I think it's been about the last 12 months that it's got really bad."
* The Family Court aims to have 90 per cent of hearings completed within 11 months - but in 2005-06 it was 26.9 months.
* There were 44 judges in July last year. Now: 41.
* Almost 11 months of "judge time" has been lost so far this year because retired or ill judges have not been replaced. authur smh 2006
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