A push to base a judge at Dubbo to deal with family law matters remains in motion.
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Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton reported he had made representations to Attorney-General George Brandis on behalf of the Orana Law Society (OLS) and he understood a reply was to come.
Last week OLS president Andrew Boog told the Daily Liberal the group would like to see a Federal Circuit Court judge based at Dubbo, where waiting times for family law matters had increased in the past six months.
Mr Brandis, as Attorney-General, is responsible for approving new appointments and funding the court.
Mr Coulton said he received representations from the OLS at the end of September and that he had written to the Attorney-General on its behalf.
The MP did not pre-empt the contents of a reply to his representations, saying he would wait and see what the Attorney-General's response was.
He said the issue of waiting times was "one of those cases where I have to rely on what people tell me" and that he did not want to express a personal opinion, but he ruled in taking further steps if necessary after the reply was received.
"If the Orana Law Society has an issue, I'm very prepared to pursue it on their behalf," Mr Coulton said.
The circuit court, which works in tandem with the Family Court and deals with more than 80,000 divorces and custody matters a year, supplies services to Dubbo.
Mr Boog said last week anyone starting family law proceedings at Dubbo would have no chance of having a hearing in court for at least 13 months.
The exception was urgent cases where child safety was involved but they would be taken from Dubbo to a metropolitan court, he said.
The OLS president said a lack of new appointments to replace retiring judges was partly to blame for the increasing waiting times.
Mr Boog's concerns about increasing delays echoed those of Federal Circuit Court Chief Judge John Pascoe, the Law Council and family lawyers who said courts across Australia were struggling to keep up with their caseloads.
A spokesman for the Attorney-General's Department told the Daily Liberal last week the chief judge was responsible for allocating the court's resources appropriately.
"The government is committed to ensuring that federal courts have the resources they need to provide access to justice, and help families and other litigants resolve their disputes with a minimum delay," he said.
". . . The Attorney-General is carefully considering all available options for any administrative and structural reform to address long-term financial sustainability of the federal courts."
