Compliance & Readiness Hearing, Other Family Court Hearings

During your divorce or parenting case in Australia, you may need to go to various court hearings as you take steps toward parenting orders.

Directions hearing

A judge or judicial registrar conducts this early on, several weeks after your case is filed. You may have a first court event that precedes it. If not, the directions hearing is probably your first court appearance in your case. It's brief, but it's formal; you should come prepared with any relevant documentation.

In the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA), it may be called a directions hearing or a first directions hearing. In Western Australia, it may be called a procedural/directions hearing.

The judge wants to know the key issues you're disputing. They may issue orders at this hearing — for example, they can order you to try mediation.

Callover hearing

A callover in court is an informational hearing used to pick your trial date. In some complex cases in which the court expects to see you multiple times, it's used to schedule other hearings. At your trial callover hearing, you'll answer questions related to your upcoming trial.

In Western Australia, fill out a callover certificate in advance of the hearing. If you'd like a specific trial date, say so on the certificate. If the timing of your trial doesn't matter to you, you may not be required to attend the hearing at all.

Compliance and readiness hearing

Until you settle with your co-parent, you're heading toward a trial, and the court will have to make sure you're ready for it. In FCFCOA, you'll have a compliance and readiness hearing several months into your case. In Western Australia, it's called a readiness hearing.

Before the hearing, file your Undertaking as to Disclosure, your trial plan, and (in FCFCOA) your Certificate of Readiness. The other parent must do the same. You may need to amend your original application or response. This is the time to present final affidavits or reports from expert witnesses.

In this hearing, a judge (or senior judicial registrar) confirms that:

• You're complying with court requirements (e.g., you've gone to court-ordered mediation).
• You've otherwise prepared for a smooth process (e.g., you've provided your witness list to the court so you'll be allowed to call your witnesses at trial).
• The court is prepared to handle your trial (e.g., the judge has decided whether you can call a certain witness). The judge may address and decide any outstanding questions at the hearing itself.

The judge who conducts the hearing will assign a judge to your trial. It can't be the judge who conducted your judicial settlement conference (if you had one).

Settling or heading to trial

You and the other parent remain free to resolve your dispute directly with each other throughout the case. Even after your compliance and readiness hearing, if you tell the court you've settled, you can avoid trial, lowering your legal fees and reducing your stress and uncertainty.

If you're going to trial, prepare well. Gather your evidence. It may be two or three years before you have your day in court.

Staying organised throughout court proceedings

Family court hearings require serious organisation.

You may want to present the judge with a parenting journal, messages exchanged with the other parent, a tally of parenting expenses, and more.

The Custody X Change app lets you create and manage all of this in one place. It helps you prepare for every step of your case.

Perhaps most importantly, Custody X Change helps you create parenting plans and parenting calendars. If you agree on these with your co-parent, you can forgo court entirely.

Take advantage of custody technology to get what's best for your child.