The Commonwealth Courts
Federal Circuit Court
The Federal Circuit Court was set up in 1999 by the Commonwealth government to deal with several different areas of the law, including family law issues, such as child contact and child support matters, and divorce. The Court also has jurisdiction over administrative law, admiralty law, bankru...
The Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court
The Family Court deals with family law issues. It is helped in its work by the Federal Circuit Court. The Federal Circuit Court deals with many of the more straightforward legal problems, such as divorce or separation. The Family Court deals with many of the more complicated or serious matters, s...
The High Court
The High Court is at the apex of both the Commonwealth and state court systems. Its administrative and ceremonial head is the Chief Justice and it has six other judges. Unlike other courts, all seven judges generally sit on High Court cases because of the importance of its decisions. The High Cou...
Commonwealth Tribunals and Boards
The Commonwealth has tribunals, commissions and boards too numerous to mention which are part of the vast web of laws and policies it administers. The most important ones are the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), Child Support Division, and Veterans Review Board. The AAT reviews numerous dec...
The Federal Court
The Commonwealth court system is much more complex than the State ones. Much more of its work is done by specialised tribunals, boards and commissions, though it does have a high volume of people using the Family Court system. The Federal Court was established in 1976 in order to relieve the H...
Page last updated 13/12/2017