Court move worry

THE Family Court of Australia’s withdrawal of services from Dandenong has continued following a decision to remove a judge and judicial registrar from the Dandenong registry from 23 December.
The court has advised Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) that it would only provide basic administrative services from that date, leaving the central Melbourne registry as the only fulltime base for the court in Victoria.
VLA managing director Tony Parsons called on the Commonwealth Government and the Family Court to review its decision to pull out from Dandenong.
“This decision will leave one of the fastest growing and most disadvantaged regions without good access to the Family Court,” he said.
“VLA operates the largest family law legal practice in Victoria, and we believe that there is a very strong demand for judicial services out of the Family Court’s Dandenong registry.
“As this community continues to expand along the BerwickCranbourne growth corridor, where more and more young families are establishing themselves, the need for a properly resourced Family Court will only increase,” Mr Parsons said.
He said the reduction in Family Court services began with the transfer of all family law cases to the Melbourne registry.