The Federal Magistrates Court (also known as the Federal Magistrates Service or the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia) is an Australian court established by the Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (Cth), although its first officers were not appointed until 2000. The court was created to deal with the increasing workload of the Federal Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia, by hearing less complex cases for them and freeing them to deal only with more complex cases. The court now hears over 70% of applications filed in the federal courts. It is also intended to replace (in part) the federal jurisdiction with which state courts have been invested under the Judiciary Act 1903.
On 5 May 2009, the federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, announced the proposed abolition of the Federal Magistrates Court. All family law matters would revert to the Family Court while other matters would be heard in the Federal Court. No date had been given for this change. On 25 May 2010 the abolition proposal has been reported as being reversed.
The Federal Magistrates Court was initially called the Federal Magistrates Service. As the court's jurisdiction has increased the name of the court has become less appropriate as a description of the court's work. The Federal Magistrates Court now exercises a jurisdiction far greater than that of the state magistrates courts and similar to that of the state district and county courts in Australia.
There are now over 60 Federal Magistrates in Australia. The first Chief Federal Magistrate, Diana Bryant left the court in 2004 when she was appointed the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the third person to be appointed that position since the establishment of the Family Court. The current Chief Federal Magistrate is John Pascoe AO. The current members of the court come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including barristers, solicitors, academic lawyers, and legal aid and public service lawyers.
Read more about Federal Magistrates Court: List of Federal Magistrates
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