Courts will not be merged: Roxon

The Federal Magistrates Court will not be merged with the Family Court, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says.

Keeping the courts separate was recommended in a review of portfolio agencies conducted by Stephen Skehill SC after a merger was proposed.

The government received the review earlier this year and is yet to release its response.

But Ms Roxon said on Thursday it would definitely accept that recommendation.

“Mr Skehill’s recommendation reflects my belief, as the new Attorney-General, that the Australian community is best served by a separate and distinct Family Court and Federal Magistracy,” she told a meeting of federal magistrates on Thursday.

The Federal Magistrates Court was established in 1999 to ease the load of the Family Court and the Federal Court.

Ms Roxon noted the chief federal magistrate and the chief justices of the family and federal courts had already implemented another of Mr Skehill’s recommendations in setting up a consultative committee to discuss increasing effectiveness and efficiency in the courts’ management.

She also wants to change the name of the Federal Magistrates Court.

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