Family judges playing in the second division win the toss … First division players to be sent off the field … Welcome to the new-old Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia – a multi-level judicial sweatshop where enmities can fester 

The government’s spin is that the redesign of the Family and Federal Circuit Courts will enable the new structure to chomp through 8,000 more cases a year and have them resolved at mach speed. 

Gullible hacks and other tabloidists have been fed that line and swallowed it raw. 

The other side of the story, which is not part of the attorney general’s scripted spin, is that this is a massive cost saving exercise, with none of those savings going into extra resources to handle the caseload. 

The neglect of the family courts is legendary, to such an extent that there are now the same number of judges in the Family and Circuit Courts as were in place five years ago. 

If the legislation is passed, and already Pauline says she is on board (hold tight), then what we will see is the lowly Federal Circuit Court, formerly the federal magistrates, eating and swallowing the Family Court from the inside.  

It looks like there are going to be huge changes to the Australian Family Law system. I took this to the last election & I am very proud of the role @OneNationAus has played in getting this result. There is still a lot to be done but it looks like we are on the right track! -PH

— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) May 29, 2018

The Christian is closing down the more expensive Family Court and by attrition – through retirements, resignations and death – Lionel Murphy’s proud creation will ultimately vanish from view. 

The family law work done by justices playing in the first division will progressively be done by more humbly paid second division players, many of who don’t have the necessary ball skills. 

Circuit Court people are paid $379,000 a year, with no judicial pensions, compared to $449,000 in the pay-packets of Family Court judges, plus lavish pension entitlements. Already, it is evident the savings will be significant – more work done by cheaper judges. 

The Christian justifies the change significantly on the basis that too many cases bounce back and forth between the federal magistrates and the Family Court – 1,200 or so in the last year. 

Yet, by creating two divisions, with two classes of judges, with a fair history of enmity, he’s ensured the ping-pong can continue. That structure was the inevitable outcome of trying to glue two courts together, with the judges keeping their current commissions, and giving the structure a cumbersome name that indicates the creation is akin to a camel. 

This reverse takeover is accompanied by family law appeals going to the Federal Court of Australia, allowing the existing Family Court appeal division to wither on the vine. Already people at the Federal Court have christened the division, “The Vine”. 

Already, there is an amount of sniffy standoffishness about current family appeal judges sitting as Federal Court judges. 

What is sending a shudder up-and-down the spines of Federal Court judges is that Chuckles Allsop could ask them selectively to lend a hand on family appeals. 

Other important aspects are also unaddressed, particularly the need for judges who are skilled in complex cases involving parenting disputes, domestic violence and complex property battles. 

The deep seated problems of the courts remain neglected, so it’s hard to see how the camel is going to produce the speedy results vouched by the AG, who seems to be swept off his feet by the excitement of “a single entry point”.