Parents in child custody disputes could wait at least 13 months for a hearing in a court system, which the Orana Law Society President Andrew Boog warns is choked and under-resourced.

Mr Boog called for a Dubbo-based Federal Circuit Court judge to cut family law waiting times.

Not replacing retiring judges, which saved money, was partly to blame.

Nearly 20 per cent of the circuit court's 65 judges will retire in the next year.

The court works in tandem with the Family Court.

Delays have big impacts on people already under emotional stress from broken relationships and families.

As is often the case when there are issues, the buck was passed.

The Federal Attorney-General's office referred questions to his department.

The department said the government was committed to ensuring federal courts had the resources to give access to justice with minimum delay.

It said the Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court was responsible for allocating resources.

Really? Who decides what money and resources the court gets? The government.

Included in the department's answers were phrases "in the current economic climate" and "long-term financial sustainability of the federal courts".

So money and budgets are involved.

This is about broken homes and children. Send the judge!