Access to justice in remote, rural and regional areas remains an ongoing issue. The Court has some strategies in place to assist clients who are unable to visit a registry.

Circuits

The Court is committed to providing access to justice to the people of Australia. The Court’s expansive regional circuit network is demonstrative of this commitment. Judges regularly travel to various regional locations to hear matters, alleviating the burden on regional litigants (and their legal representatives) to travel to major cities to have their matters dealt with. The Federal Circuit Court is the only federal court that regularly conducts regional circuits. The Court’s commitment to the provision of access to justice for all Australians is further illustrated by its ability to conduct special sittings in most regions of Australia on demand.

See Court lists and circuits for more information.

Where’s the closest registry?

Family law registries

General federal law registries

What if I can’t get to a registry?

There are a range of options available to enable you to talk to someone from the Court.

Live Chat

Live Chat enables a party using the website to chat online to a staff member at the National Enquiry Centre (NEC) to ask procedural questions about filing in the family law system. They can also chat online if they have any queries about eFiling on the Commonwealth Courts Portal.

Currently, clients can chat with the NEC about issues such as:

  • divorce
  • parenting
  • property
  • eFiling, and
  • other general enquiries relating to separation and divorce.

Live Chat can be accessed from every page on the left hand side of the website.

Call us

Family law enquiries

Phone: 1300 352 000 (except WA)*for individuals living in WA contact the Family Court of Western Australia

TTY/voice calls: Contact the National Relay Service on 133 677 or for Speak & Listen calls contact 1300 555 727

International: +61 2 8892 8578

Fax: Please contact a family court registry

General federal law enquiries

Call your nearest registry.

Email us

Family law

Email: enquiries@familylawcourts.gov.au

NOTE: The email service cannot be used to file any court documents. 

Instructions for emailing the Court

Opening hours: 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday

General federal law

Email: customer.service@federalcircuitcourt.gov.au

Commonwealth Courts Portal

The Commonwealth Courts Portal (www.comcourts.gov.au) provides free web-based access to information about cases that are before the courts.

After registering, lawyers and parties can keep track of their cases, identify documents that have been filed and view outcomes, orders made and future court dates. Users can also eFile certain family law documents.

Users log on using a single user ID and access multiple jurisdictions from a single central web-based system. A popular function of the Portal is the ability for users to elect to be notified of any recent activity on their files.

For more information see:

How do I register for the Commonwealth Courts Portal?

How do I eFile?

How do I register for the Commonwealth Courts Portal?

How do I eFile?

Video conferencing

The courts use technology to assist litigants in reducing costs and court delays. Audio and audio-visual links are used in appropriate situations.

For more information see Video/Audio-Link Protocols.

YouTube channels

The Court has created a YouTube channel to provide information to clients in a different way to the usual form or fact sheet. Videos currently available include:

  • How to apply for a divorce: serving divorce papers
  • The Commonwealth Courts Portal
  • Islamic family law in Australia book launch
  • Court Tour
  • Mediation – what to expect

Visit the Federal Circuit Court’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/federalcircuitcourt

Subscribe to the Federal Circuit Court’s Twitter account @FedCctCourtAU

Visit the Family Court’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/familycourtAU

Subscribe to the Family Court’s Twitter account @FamilyCourtAU

Related Information