Federal Circuit Court of Australia

Federal Circuit Court of Australia
The Federal Court Building in Melbourne, a location of the Federal Circuit Court
Established1999
Dissolved1 September 2021
JurisdictionAustralia
Location
Appeals to
Appeals fromCertain federal tribunals and other federal bodies, including:
Chief Judge
CurrentlyWill Alstergren QC
Since2017

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Service, was an Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to family law and child support, administrative law, admiralty law, bankruptcy, copyright, human rights, industrial law, migration, privacy and trade practices.

The Court was created to deal with the increasing workload of the Federal Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia, by hearing less complex cases for them and freeing those Courts to deal only with more complex cases. The Federal Circuit Court dealt with approximately 95% of migration and bankruptcy applications filed in the federal courts. Approximately 90% of the Court's workload was in the area of family law. The Court also deals with nearly 80% of all family law matters filed in the federal courts.[1] It is also intended to replace (in part) the federal jurisdiction with which state courts have been invested under the Judiciary Act 1903.

  1. ^ "About the Federal Circuit Court". Federal Circuit Court of Australia. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.