Families forced to wait as divorce courts see year-long backlog of cases

Divorce courts are clogged with a year-long backlog of cases, as highly-paid judges enjoy up to 10 weeks’ holiday while postponing court hearings until 2022. One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has demanded judges be stripped of their generous perks, with holidays cut back to the four or five weeks a year granted to ordinary Australian workers. “The courts are overworked and have got a backlog of 20,000 cases,’’ she said. “Cases are taking months, if not a couple of years, to be heard. Judges’ entitlements are excessive.’’ Senator Hanson is deputy chair of a Federal parliamentary inquiry into family law, which has revealed some children have been caught in seven-year custody battles. Divorce disputes are heard in two courts — the Family Court, which fielded a five-year high of 21,054 applications in 2019-20, or the Federal Circuit Court, which received 85,563 family law cases, including 45,886 divorce applications. The 33 Family Court judges, who hear the most complex disputes, are paid a base salary of $468,020 plus 15 per cent superannuation and a car allowance — with eight weeks’ holiday. The 68 FCC judges are paid $394,980 plus superannuation and a car allowance, with six weeks’ holidays and the ability to “purchase’’ a bonus four weeks’ leave through salary sacrifice. Law Council of Australia president Pauline Wright warned some separated couples were waiting three years for a judgment. She said the Family Court had a backlog of at least a year’s worth of cases. “The sheer workload, coupled with too few judges to carry it out, is creating delays, leaving families and children in limbo and often at risk while waiting for their matter to be heard,” Ms Wright said. The Family Court has a backlog of 6720 cases — including 2586 lodged more than a year ago, the latest Productivity Commission data reveals. The FCC has 50,791 family law cases in its queue, including 12,834 more than a year old. Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter yesterday vowed to press ahead with merging the two courts next year. “This is an area in need of urgent reform,” he said. Ms Wright said lawyers opposed the merger and wanted a stand-alone federal law court instead.