PRESS RELEASE: New Judge Appointments Embarrassingly Ignores Families in Sydney’s Western Suburbs
The Attorney General’s office has issued a statement announcing the appointment of four new judges to the Federal Circuit Court to assist with high work loads in family law cases.
The statement indicated that Ms Pariticia Cope has been appointed to the Cairns Registry, Ms Meredith Dickson QC to the Adelaide Registry, and Ms Catherine Symons and Mr Jonathan Forbes to the Melbourne Registry.
“A boost of judges is always welcome as it means more matters will be heard faster.” Hayder Shkara, from Justice Family Lawyers. “But the latest appointments have not addressed replacing Judge Joe Harman in the Parramatta Registry. This means that the already overwhelmed Parramatta court hasn’t had the benefit of an additional appointment. Why has Western Sydney been forgotten?”
Judge Joe Harman has been on leave since August 2020 following complaints of sexual harassment by one Federal Circuit Court staff member and one former law student.
An inquiry was launched to investigate the complaints and found that the allegations were true and the Parramatta-based judge resigned on 30 June 2021.
Hayder Shkara believes the recent appointments should have aimed to replace Judge Harman. “I’m not sure why that was not addressed in these new appointments. Parramatta is already struggling with the workload.”
Parramatta’s problems with funding and resourcing are not new. In 2019, the Law Society of New South Wales sent a letter to the attorney general, urging for more funds and resourcing to the Sydney and Parramatta Registries.
The letter stressed that “immediate assistance” was required to “ease the burden upon current judges” and stated that the limit on the number of judges appointed played a significant role in the litigants having to wait for years to reach a final hearing before a judge.
On May 12, 2021, the Federal Circuit Court announced that it will be receiving 100 million dollars from the government as part of the 2021-22 budget.
As part of the budget, the Parramatta Registry will receive funding that will allow it to engage “6 registrar positions and 6 registrar support staff”.
The announcement determined that 8 new Federal Circuit Court judges would be appointed, but did not specify to which registries they would be appointed.
With four new Federal Circuit Judges now appointed, it is unclear whether the Parramatta Registry will receive the much-needed support of a replacement for Judge Harman.
Contact Hayder Shkara from Justice Family Lawyers Sydney www.justicefamilylawyers.com.au/family-lawyers-sydney/ or on 0404 601 580 for more information or an interview.
