The appointment of a new federal circuit court judge in Central Queensland has prompted renewed calls for Attorney General George Brandis to urgently move to fix Wollongong’s overburdened family law system.
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Family law chairperson of the Wollongong District Law Society Lorelle Longbottom warned there were now almost 600 cases – up from 550 in December – waiting to be heard. However, she said there was still a risk Wollongong’s sitting judge Tom Altobelli could be re-tasked to Sydney for most of the year.
On Tuesday, Senator Brandis announced a new full time judge would start in Rockhampton, which would “relieve delays and costs for litigants, particularly in the family law jurisdiction”.
“This is great for Queensland – and needed – but we’re still waiting in NSW and it’s continually disappointing,” Ms Longbottom said.
“Wollongong is the largest single-judge registry in Australia, we don’t have a permanent judge, over the Christmas period there were 600 family law cases and they’re now back to 590 – so what are they going to do about it?”
“The reality is that its now taking three or four years for parties [to have their cases heard]… and it’s getting so bad that some families can’t get a hearing date set for any time in the future.”
She said the best, and most realistic, outcome would be for Senator Brandis to appoint another judge to relieve the backlog in Sydney, which would free up Judge Altobelli to spend most of his time in Wollongong.
Last week, Federal Circuit Court Chief Judge John Pascoe used his Australia Day honours acceptance to highlight that Wollongong, Lismore, Albury and Rockhampton were the areas most in need of resources to protect children.
In a media release, Senator Brandis praised the efforts of National Party MP Michelle Landry in securing Rockhampton’s appointment, saying she had been “a tireless advocate on behalf of the people of Central Queensland”.
On Thursday, Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis said she had delivered a letter to Senator Brandis, asking him to undertake a caseload evaluation to determine the demand and time it was taking for Illawarra cases to be heard.
Ms Sudmalis also said she has co-signed a letter from the two Illawarra Labor MPs, Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones, who have been asking Senator Brandis to act to fix the Wollongong backlog for several months.
