Interim Hearings & Interim Orders in Children's Matters
Why does the Court make interim orders?
There are two types of Court order that can be made by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia in parenting or children’s matters - interim orders and final orders.
Final orders are what most people think of when they think of a ‘Court order’. These are binding, long-lasting orders that are made by a Judge or other judicial official, either by consent or after a lengthy final hearing.
Interim orders have the same force and effect as any other kind of Court order, but they are made in different circumstances.
It can often take over 18 months from the date of filing documents in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for a parenting matter to reach a final hearing. It will often be undesirable for parenting arrangements to remain in dispute for that considerable length of time whilst parents are moving their cases through the Courts.
For that reason, in almost every parenting matter, interim orders are made as a ‘stop-gap’ measure, before the matter can be fully heard at a final hearing.
What happens in an interim hearing?
Interim orders are made either by consent between the parties to the proceeding, or after an interim hearing.
Interim hearings are special, short-form Court hearings that are often conducted by Senior Judicial Registrars, who are lower-level judicial officials in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia who have many of the same powers as Judges.
Interim hearings usually take no more than 1 to 2 hours. There are various special rules that apply to them.
Firstly, except in extenuating circumstances, there is no cross-examination. That means a party to a case, if they are represented by a lawyer, will usually not need to say anything at all – they can let their solicitor and/or barrister do the talking.
Secondly, because a person who is a party to a case at an interim hearing does not need to say anything, they will need to rely on an Affidavit, which is a Court document that tells the Court what facts support the orders they are seeking. To save time, at interim hearings, Affidavits are usually limited to 10 pages and 5 annexures.
Finally, a judicial official cannot make any findings of fact at an interim hearing. That means they will not be able to decide whether one person’s version of events is correct or not. Because of this, the judicial official’s approach will usually be one of caution. As they cannot determine which version of events is truthful, except in very obvious cases, they will ordinarily try to identify what everyone’s concerns are, and fashion an outcome that deals with all of them. This can sometimes be a difficult balancing act.
What can I do if the interim orders aren't in my favour?
Interim hearings in parenting matters are almost always a critical junction point, because they happen at an earlier stage in the proceedings. A parent who manages to obtain orders that they seek at an interim hearing will quite often set them up for further success down the track.
Nonetheless, for a parent who is unsuccessful at obtaining the orders they seek at an interim hearing, that is rarely the end of the story. Careful management, analysis of the reasons for the interim decision, and the obtaining of further evidence can often help an initially unsuccessful parent to turn the tide and obtain the orders they seek at a final hearing.
Wonderley & Hall’s family lawyers have appeared in countless interim hearings and we can help you obtain the result you want at this critical early stage.
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