From 31 July subpoenas for production of documents, in most family law matters can be eFiled on the Commonwealth Courts Portal.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) has introduced eFiling through the Commonwealth Courts Portal for subpoenas seeking the production of documents where there is an ongoing family law final orders application on foot. Online filing is not available for interim applications, contravention applications or subpoenas for attendance and for attendance and production of documents.
There is a new option available in relevant matters on the portal for Request to issue a subpoena.
New subpoena forms apply. The old forms will still be accepted until Friday 29 September 2023.
Once the subpoena is issued the court will apply a Subpoena (Family Law) Coversheet which includes the last date for service, the date for production, and how the documents are to be produced. The new coversheets will be applied to all subpoenas, not only those able to be eFiled.
Documents in response to a subpoena cannot be produced through the portal. If possible, they are produced by sending an email to the court registry at the address noted on the subpoena’s cover sheet. All family law registries have a subpoena email address. If production by email is not possible the documents need to be otherwise delivered to the registry.
As part of this change the Notice of Objection has been removed from the new subpoena form. An updated version of the Notice of Objection is now a separate form available on the FCFCOA’s website.
By Lawyers Family Law Property Settlement and Children guides have been updated accordingly, with amended commentary and new hyperlinks covering the new processes for subpoenas, and the new forms added to the matter plans. The previous forms will remain available on the matter plan until at least 29 September.