Family Court Rules 2021

In these rules —

Act means the Family Court Act 1997;

address for service means the street address, postal address or email address given by a party where documents may be left for the party or to where documents may be sent for the party;

affidavit means a document that complies with rules 238, 239 and 483;

appeal —

appellant includes a cross‑appellant;

applicant includes a cross‑applicant who is seeking other orders in response to an application;

application includes —

approved form, in relation to a provision of these rules, means a form approved under rule 486 for the purposes of the provision;

assessment hearing means a hearing conducted by a registrar at which the amount to be paid on an itemised costs account is assessed;

attend means to present at a court event (including by electronic communication);

bankrupt has the meaning given by the Bankruptcy Act section 5(1);

Bankruptcy Act means the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Commonwealth);

bankruptcy case means a case in which a court has jurisdiction in bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act section 35, 35A or 35B;

Bankruptcy Regulations means the Bankruptcy Regulations 2021 (Commonwealth);

case means a proceeding under the Act, the Family Law Act, the regulations, these rules or any other law that vests jurisdiction in a court;

case guardian —

child‑related proceedings includes child‑related proceedings as defined in the Family Law Act section 69ZM;

Child Support Act means, as the case requires, either or both of —

Child Support Agency means the agency of the Commonwealth Department of Social Services that administers a Child Support Act;

child support agreement has the meaning given by the Child Support (Assessment) Act section 81;

child support application or appeal means an application or appeal in which the only orders sought are under a Child Support Act;

child support assessment includes —

child support liability means an amount owing under a Child Support Act (including a child support assessment or registered child support agreement) that may be registered for collection by the Child Support Agency;

Child Support Registrar means the Child Support Registrar under the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act section 10;

conduct money means money paid by a party to a witness, before the witness appears at a court event for the party, for —

contact has the same meaning as in the Family Law Act Part VII;

corporation includes —

Corporations Act means the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth);

Corporations Rules means the Federal Court (Corporations) Rules 2000 (Commonwealth);

costs —

costs agreement means a written agreement between a party and the party’s lawyer, about the costs to be charged by the lawyer for work done for a case for the party, in accordance with —

costs assessment order means an order made by a registrar fixing the total amount payable for costs under rule 348(1), 349(3) or 354(2);

costs notice means a brochure, approved by the executive manager of the Court appointed under section 25(1)(c) of the Act, about costs under Part 19 or Schedule 2;

counsel includes a barrister and a solicitor acting as a barrister;

court means —

court event includes —

cross‑vesting law means a law relating to cross‑vesting jurisdiction of —

declaration as to validity, in relation to a marriage, divorce or annulment, means an order that the marriage, divorce or nullity order is valid or invalid;

discontinue, in relation to a case, means to withdraw all or part of the case;

draft consent order means a document that complies with rule 166(3);

each person to be served has the meaning given in rule 122(4);

earnings include —

ECMS means the electronic case management system for the management of proceedings in Western Australian courts and tribunals;

electronic has the meaning given in the Courts and Tribunals (Electronic Processes Facilitation) Act 2013 section 5;

electronic communication means —

eligible carer has the meaning given by the Child Support (Assessment) Act section 7B;

enforcement officer includes —

enforcement order —

expense means an amount paid to a third party (other than a lawyer) for work done in a case or services provided for a party;

expert means an independent person who has relevant specialised knowledge based on the person’s training, study or experience;

expert witness means an expert who has been instructed to give or prepare independent evidence for the purpose of a case;

family report means a report concerning the best interests of a child, prepared under section 73 of the Act or the Family Law Act section 55A(2) or 62G;

filing registry means the registry of the court in which a case has commenced or to which a case is transferred;

final order means the order of the court that finally decides a case commenced by an initiating application;

financial agreement means an agreement that is a financial agreement under section 205ZN, 205ZO or 205ZP of the Act, or the Family Law Act section 90B, 90C or 90D, other than an ante‑nuptial (pre‑marriage) or post‑nuptial (after marriage) settlement to which the Family Law Act section 85A applies;

financial case means a case (other than an appeal) involving an application —

or

financial orders includes orders in relation to —

fresh application means any of the following applications (including compliance with pre‑action procedures associated with them) made after 30 June 2008 —

hearing means the process, other than a trial, of determining —

itemised costs account means a document prepared in accordance with rule 339;

judicial officer includes a judge, a registrar, and a magistrate (including a family law magistrate);

lawyer means a person who is enrolled as a legal practitioner of —

legislative provision includes —

maintenance application means an initiating application in which the only orders sought are for maintenance (including a variation of a previous maintenance order) or a contribution towards child‑bearing expenses;

medical procedure application means an initiating application seeking an order authorising a major medical procedure for a child that is not for the purpose of treating a bodily malfunction or disease;

member benefit statement means a statement issued by or on behalf of the trustee of a superannuation fund setting out a person’s entitlement to benefits from the fund as at a date specified in the statement;

non‑convention country means a country with which Australia does not have a convention as to service of documents;

oath includes affirmation;

order, relating to a passport, includes —

parenting case means a case in which the application seeks a parenting order or a child‑related injunction under the Act or the Family Law Act, other than an application for child maintenance;

party has the meaning given in rule 95;

payee means a person who is entitled to take action against a payer to enforce an obligation to pay money, created by an assessment, order or agreement, with which the payer has not complied;

payer means a person who has an obligation to pay money to, or do an act to financially assist, a payee under an assessment, order or agreement;

permission means the leave or consent of the court;

person includes a corporation, authority or party;

person with a disability, in relation to a case, means a person who, because of a physical or mental disability —

pre‑action procedure means the set of principles and procedures (the text of which is set out in Schedule 1) with which the parties must comply before starting a case;

prescribed child welfare authority means the CEO as defined in the Children and Community Services Act 2004 section 3;

prescribed property, for a person, means —

property includes —

property case means a case in which orders (other than consent orders) are sought relating to —

protected earnings rate means the actual threshold income amount that would apply to a payer under the Bankruptcy Act Part VI Division 4B if the payer were a bankrupt;

registered, in relation to a document, means accepted for filing;

regulations means, as the case requires —

seal means a stamp or other impression (including, in the case of an electronic document, an electronic or virtual stamp) that the court puts on a document to indicate that the document has been issued by the court;

sealed copy means a document that bears a court seal;

security for costs means the security that a respondent may ask the court to order the applicant to pay for costs that may be awarded to the respondent;

serve means to give or deliver a document to a person in the manner required by these rules;

service by electronic means includes service by facsimile, email or any other form of electronic transmission;

sign means write a person’s name, including a mark by a person who is unable to write their name;

single expert witness means an expert witness who is appointed by agreement between the parties or by the court to give evidence or prepare a report on an issue;

special federal matter has the meaning given by the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross‑vesting) Act 1987 (Commonwealth) section 3(1);

step means a procedural act taken in the conduct or management of a case;

superannuation information form means a form approved under rule 486 for obtaining information from the trustee of a superannuation fund in family law cases;

sworn, for an affidavit or evidence, means an oath by a witness that the witness is telling the truth;

third party debt notice means a notice given to a third party who holds money for, or owes money to, a payer demanding that the money be paid to a payee to satisfy an obligation that the payer owes the payee;

third party debtor means a person from whom a payee claims a debt that is owed to the payer;

transcript means a written or electronic transcription of a hearing or a trial prepared by a contractor providing transcription services to the court for the case;

trial means the process of determining a case started by an initiating application specified in item 1 of the Table to rule 26;

undertaking as to damages has the meaning given in rule 316(4);

unreasonable, in relation to costs for work done in a case, means costs for work that would not normally be done in a case of a particular type;

work done for a case includes work done in relation to the case (including in relation to the pre‑action procedure) and work done in anticipation of starting the case;

working day means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday;

written notice means a document (for example, a letter) that complies with rule 483(1) or (2).