(MIG-CPD)
1. Purpose
1.1 The purpose of this Practice Direction is to set out the practice and procedure of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (Court) for the case management of its migration caseload.
1.2 The overarching purpose of the Court’s civil practice and procedure is the just resolution of disputes according to law as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible. Parties have a duty to act consistently with the overarching purpose, and practitioners must assist parties to comply with the duty.
2. Scope
2.1 This Central Practice Direction applies nationally from 1 September 2025 to all migration proceedings in the Court within the scope of section 476 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (migration proceedings).
2.2 This Central Practice Direction will also apply to migration proceedings commenced before 1 September 2025, unless the Court considers that it would be unfair or impractical to do so.
2.3 This Central Practice Direction is to be read together with:
- the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth) (Act);
- the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2025 (Cth) (General Federal Law Rules), in particular Part 29 which deals with migration proceedings;
- the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth);
- the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth);
- the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Act); and
- Federal Court Migration Practice Note—Removal from Australia of Immigration Detainees who have Proceedings before the Court (MIG-2).
3. Commencing migration proceedings
Section 91X of the Act
3.1 The Court will assign a pseudonym to litigants whose proceedings are those to which section 91X of the Act applies.
3.2 In proceedings that involve an applicant who may have previously had a pseudonym, but which do not involve a protection visa, it may be appropriate to continue to use the previous pseudonym. This should be brought to the Court’s attention at the earliest available opportunity.
3.3 Where a pseudonym has previously been assigned by a court or tribunal that is the source of the proceedings, the Court will adopt the same pseudonym, where possible and appropriate. Where a pseudonym has not previously been assigned, the Registry should be contacted by email at migrationteam@fedcourt.gov.au before lodgement of the application so that the Court can assign a new pseudonym.
3.4 If the applicant has a pseudonym but other factors might cause the applicant to be readily identifiable (such as unique characteristics or aspects of their claims), this should be brought to the Court’s attention including, where appropriate, by filing an interlocutory application seeking non-publication or suppression orders. Alternatively, if the parties can agree on a form of anonymisation, this can be submitted to the docket Judge to assist the Court.
Title of proceedings and names of parties
3.5 In migration proceedings:
- each party bringing the application must be named sequentially, beginning with the first applicant, second applicant and so on, in the same order as they were named before the tribunal or authority (or in limited cases, the delegate);
- each of the other parties to the proceeding must be named sequentially, beginning with the first respondent, second respondent and so on;
- the relevant tribunal or authority must be named as the last respondent; and
- the individual names of the president, senior member(s), member(s) or Registrar(s) of the relevant tribunal or authority must not appear in the title of the proceeding and do not need to be named as parties to the proceeding.
Attribution and certification
3.6 All Court documents, including originating and amended applications and affidavits, must include the details of the person who prepared the document, irrespective of whether that person is a lawyer.
3.7 Lawyers in particular must note the obligations under section 486E of the Act to avoid encouraging a person to commence or continue migration litigation if the litigation has no reasonable prospect of success.
3.8 The obligations referred to in paragraphs 3.6 and 3.7 apply also to Barristers (including those retained on a direct access basis: see Part 12 below).
Notifying the other party
3.9 All documents filed with the Court must be served on all parties, unless the Court otherwise orders.
3.10 Specifically, the applicant must serve each respondent within 7 days of filing the application by delivering the application to them (for example, via email). The Registry will provide the relevant address to enable the applicant to serve the:
- Department of Home Affairs; and
- relevant tribunal or authority.
3.11 A party must file a new Notice of Address for Service to notify the Court of any change of address, change of lawyer acting and/or change of solicitor with carriage, as soon as practicable upon such a change occurring.
3.12 Any subsequent documents filed in the proceeding must also be served on each respondent to the address of the law firm contained in the Notice of Address for Service.
4. Central Migration Docket
4.1 Upon filing, migration proceedings are placed in the central migration docket for initial triage before being allocated to a Judge’s docket.
4.2 The initial triage process will typically consider:
- the nature of the originating documents;
- whether any interlocutory relief is sought;
- whether there is any objection to the Court’s competency in respect of the application;
- whether the applicant is in immigration detention;
- whether the applicant is represented;
- any request for expedition or abeyance (for example, pending the outcome of a relevant appealed decision which might realistically impact the outcome of the judicial review application);
- the location of the parties including by reference to the Registry in which the proceedings have been filed;
- whether there are any other matters before the Court or appeals on foot in other courts that may be relevant to how the matter should be case managed;
- other matters involving parties that are potentially relevant to the proceedings;
- whether the matter is suitable for determination by a Registrar; and
- any other issues that may be of relevance to case management and the overarching purpose including, for example, the Court’s workload, availability of facilities and Judges.
4.3 The Court expects respondents in migration proceedings to raise any matters relevant to the triage process, including those set out above, in their filed Response to facilitate case management.
5. Urgent applications and requests for expedition
5.1 If an application is urgent, the filing party must tick the ‘Urgent’ box when submitting the application via eLodgment, together with the supporting affidavit stating why the matter must be heard urgently.
5.2 Any urgent originating application must be brought promptly to the attention of the Migration Team by email to migrationteam@fedcourt.gov.au and by contacting the Registry in which the application is filed. For an urgent application outside of the Court’s business hours, the filing party should contact the Duty Registrar on the number listed on the Court’s website.
5.3 Where eLodgment is not possible for an urgent application, the filing party should contact the Registry for advice on how to bring the matter to the Court’s attention.
5.4 Where a matter has been allocated to a docket Judge, any urgent interlocutory application must be brought to the attention of the docket Judge who has the responsibility for hearing and case managing the proceeding at the time the interlocutory application is filed.
5.5 If the matter has not been docketed to a Judge, then the filing party in an urgent interlocutory application must contact the Migration Team by email to migrationteam@fedcourt.gov.au and the Registry in which the application is filed.
5.6 Any request for expedition should similarly be communicated promptly in the same manner outlined at paragraphs 5.4 or 5.5 above, as appropriate.
6. Non-removal from Australia of detainees with litigation before the Court
6.1 Federal Court Migration Practice Note—Removal from Australia of Immigration Detainees who have Proceedings before the Court (MIG-2) (Federal Court Practice Note) applies to detainees with litigation before the Court unless otherwise described below or where the Court considers that it is impractical or unwarranted to do so.
6.2 The Court retains full discretion to vary compliance with the Federal Court Practice Note.
6.3 To facilitate the efficient administration of justice, a detainee with proceedings currently before the Court should advise the Court of any arrangements being contemplated or made for their removal from Australia, irrespective of whether the proposed removal is voluntary or involuntary.
6.4 Detainees to whom the Federal Court Practice Note applies should not be removed from Australia, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, unless the Commonwealth and its officers, whether through the respondent Minister in a particular proceeding or otherwise, are able to demonstrate that the detainee has been:
- properly informed of the contents of the Federal Court Practice Note; and
- given a reasonable, and practicable, opportunity to communicate with the Court, whether the docket Judge or a duty Judge to whom they refer the matter, a Registrar or the Court’s
6.5 Migration Team, about their proposed removal and what they wish to occur in relation to the proceedings before the Court. The Court will not consider that such an opportunity has been given unless the detainee has been informed that the communication should be made to one or more of such persons. Communications in this situation should not be made to a generic Court or Registry address.
7. Immigration detention
7.1 All matters involving a party who is in immigration detention (including community detention) (detainee) will be allocated for hearing as expeditiously as possible.
7.2 Hearings involving detainees may be conducted by audiovisual link to the relevant detention facility. If a hearing proceeds remotely using an audiovisual link, the Court’s protocols in relation to the provision of interpreters apply.
7.3 If the Court considers that it is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice for a hearing to be conducted in person, a Judge may order the detainee to attend Court in-person.
8. Court books and authorities
8.1 In every migration proceeding, the solicitor for the Minister must prepare a Court Book, irrespective of whether the applicant(s) is/are represented.
8.2 The Court Book must include:
- all relevant material that was before the decision-maker who made the substantive decision that is the subject of the proceedings;
- the substantive decision and all documents relating to the applicant being notified of the decision;
- if relevant, all material that went to the decision-maker for an indication as to whether they wished to consider the exercise of a personal power;
- if the application relates to tribunal proceedings, any existing transcript of those proceedings which is in the Minister’s possession at the time the application is filed with the Court; and
- any independent country information relied on by the decision-maker which is specifically particularised in a ground of review.
8.3 The solicitors for the Minister must also ensure that any Court Book complies with the Court’s standard orders, which are available on the Court’s website.
8.4 If any amendment to the application has the effect of requiring material of the kinds listed (non-exhaustively) at paragraph 8.2 above to be added to the Court Book, the solicitor for the Minister should as a matter of priority either:
- file a supplementary Court Book, together with an affidavit explaining the earlier omission; or
- annex any additional material to an affidavit, including an explanation of the earlier omission;
depending on the size and nature of the additional material.
8.5 If a party wishes to rely on authorities, the party must ensure that a bundle of authorities provided to the Court which:
- is in electronic searchable format (preferably PDF);
- is paginated; and
- has an index with each entry bookmarked.
9. Interview/hearing audio and transcripts
9.1 At the time a Response filed pursuant to r 8.15 of the General Federal Law Rules is served, the solicitors for the Minister must also notify the applicant(s) of the availability of audio files of any interview or tribunal hearing. The solicitors for the Minister must then provide copies of any audio files which the applicant requests, in an accessible format as soon as practicable.
9.2 If an applicant wishes to rely on the content of an interview or hearing as evidence in support of a ground of review, they must provide the Court with a transcript of the relevant interview or hearing.
9.3 If any party intends to rely upon audio evidence because transcript evidence would be insufficient, the party seeking to do so must provide 14 days’ notice to the other party and to the Court of the relevant portions, together with specific pinpoint references to time, so that the relevant part/s can be readily identified.
10. Adjournment applications
10.1 To ensure that matters can be prepared for hearing, heard and determined in accordance with the overarching purpose, all parties are expected to comply with their duty to diligently prepare matters for hearing once notified of the hearing date.
10.2 If a party becomes aware of an issue with the hearing date by reason of the unavailability of a party or their representative, they must immediately notify the Court. Any request for an adjournment must be made as promptly as possible, and properly supported by evidence.
11. Consent orders
11.1 If the parties propose that an order be made by consent, the effect of which is to set aside or vary an order of the decision of the Administrative Review Tribunal or any other Tribunal established under a law of the Commonwealth (Tribunal), they must file the proposed consent order with the Court, together with a notation concisely setting out the matters said to justify the making of the proposed order and giving references to any authorities or statutory provisions relied upon. The proposed order must be signed on behalf of all parties.
11.2 If the proposed consent order relates only to costs, only the proposed consent order need be filed.
11.3 If the Court makes a consent order the parties must, within seven days of the order being made, serve a copy of the order upon the Tribunal.
12. Direct Access Barristers
12.1 The Court recognises the assistance to applicants in migration proceedings of having access to members of the independent Bar, without the need for an instructing solicitor.
12.2 Barristers retained on a direct access basis must provide an email address and postal address at which they can receive documents. This does not constitute an address for service but will be used by the Court and any other party to the proceedings to provide courtesy copies of Court documents and listing information.
12.3 If, for any reason, a direct access barrister is no longer retained or acting for a party, the barrister must, as soon as reasonably possible, inform the Court in writing that their retainer has ceased or terminated.
13. Communication with the Court
13.1 At all times, parties are expected to communicate courteously with each other, the Court and all Court staff.
13.2 For information about communicating with the Court, parties and their lawyers should refer to the Guide to communicating with the Courts.
14. Further information
14.1 An example of the standard orders in migration proceedings are available on the Court's website.
14.2 For more information on how migration proceedings are conducted in the Court, parties and practitioners should refer to the Court’s website.
The Honourable Justice William Alstergren
Chief Judge (Division 2)
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
Date: 1 September 2021
Updated: 14 October 2024
Re-issued: 1 September 2025
