Online Court

General instructions

Online Court is generally only suitable for consent matters. Any party seeking to make an application using Online Court should contact the other parties in an attempt to provide the Court with a consent position. 

If a party seeks to make a request for orders through the Online Court without obtaining the consent of the other side, the Online Court system gives the other party an opportunity to respond by either consenting to the request or offering a 'counter' request. 

If the orders sought in the Online Court are opposed, then submissions may be required to be made by both parties. If a decision is unable to be made based on those submissions, then a physical directions hearing in court may be required. 

Please be aware that:

• Parties may mention appearances of other parties.
• Parties must submit their Online Court requests prior to 12noon on the day prior to the court listing. The Court will endeavour to respond to these applications by 5 pm that day.  If you do not receive a response you must appear at the listing.
• Parties cannot submit requests by email to avoid the 12noon cut off.
• Matters must proceed to a future date (either directions hearing, hearing or mediation/conciliation conference) as the Court does not stand matters over generally.
• The registrar may require attendance at an actual directions hearing at any time.
• Parties should conduct themselves in Online Court in a manner equivalent to that in an actual courtroom.

Hearing dates

Parties should ensure they give an accurate time estimate for the hearing. Parties should list ALL available dates and confine their requests to the indicative range (published on the daily court list). Parties should indicate prior involvement of particular Judges or commissioners to assist the Court allocation process. Hearing date requests may include those for on-site hearings and s 34 Conferences (usually commencing on-site @ 9.30am on the date of hearing). For short matters e.g. modification matters, part heard, please indicate if matter can be dealt with @ 9.30am in a 30 minute time slot.

List of witnesses

Parties should indicate possible witnesses and their respective expertise or in the alternative attach (see below) a completed Hearing Information Form and/or a Court Appointed Expert Information Form.

Mediation

Court-organised mediation may take place at the Court premises or on-site (upon request) at a time to be allocated by the registrar. Parties should ensure they give an accurate time estimate for the mediation. Parties should list ALL available dates and confine their requests to the indicative range (published on the daily court list).

Other issues

Parties may also wish to inform the Court of other issues or information concerning their matter such as the date of next council meeting, prospect of settlement, readiness for hearing.

Attachments

Any supporting documentation relating to the Online Court request can be attached by using the 'Upload Document' action e.g. Signed consent orders, Hearing Information Form, Court Appointed Expert Information Sheet. 

Other documentation must be filed separately in the Online Registry 'file a document' function.