The Court is pleased to announce following a successful pilot in the Parramatta, Townsville and Rockhampton registries, that from 31 August 2026 all divorce hearings that require the parties to attend a hearing before a Deputy Registrar will take place using Webex via an audio and video enabled link. The link to attend the Webex hearing will appear on the Commonwealth Courts Portal and the daily court list the day prior to the scheduled hearing time.
This is a change to the long-standing arrangement for divorce hearings requiring attendances where, except for those part of the abovementioned successful pilot, hearings were conducted by telephone only. The Court is transitioning to all divorce hearings being conducted by video to improve court user experience for parties and practitioners in divorce hearings and to be consistent with other hearings conducted before other Registrars, increasing accessibility for all parties and allowing for the efficient conduct of divorce hearings.
Parties and practitioners can join the hearing by Webex from their computer, smartphone or other appropriate device. A party can still appear by telephone if they cannot appear by video.
For all divorce hearings taking place by Webex, the presiding Deputy Registrar will attend and be visible by video. It is expected that parties and practitioners appearing in a divorce hearing will also have their video turned on. Parties and practitioners must be dressed appropriately for a court appearance and all usual court etiquette applies. In the event of safety concerns or technology limitations, the Deputy Registrar has discretion to allow parties or practitioners to appear without video. Any concerns should be raised with the Court prior to the hearing.
This shift to hearings by video brings divorce hearings in line with all other electronic hearings currently conducted by the Court.
Why Webex?
For divorce hearings, Webex utilises one static link for each divorce list that is made visible on the Commonwealth Courts Portal when the matter is listed and on the daily Court List from 4pm AEST, the day before the Court event.
This makes things easier for Court users, because they don't have to search through emails for a unique link before each court event. It also improves efficiencies for the Courts, allowing staff to better support judges, registrars, and the matters that come before them for determination.
How do I access the Webex link?
There are 2 ways to access Webex links for a Court event:
- Visit the daily Court List:
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Click the Webex link (listed above the name of the presiding judicial officer) to enter the virtual courtroom. Example:
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- Log in to the Commonwealth Courts Portal
- Go to 'Court Events and Orders'
- Copy the link for the Court event and paste it into a web browser.
Participants can join a Webex hearing by video and audio, or audio only, from a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
When participants join the hearing, the experience is similar to Microsoft Teams.
For more information about attending electronic court events see, Electronic hearings.
Training and helpful resources
Parties and practitioners should refresh and familiarise themselves with the following resources relating to Webex Court events:
- Practitioner and Litigant Guide to Electronic Hearings for information relevant to connecting to, participating and engaging in Webex virtual Court hearings.
- Electronic hearings for information relevant to participating in virtual Court hearings, including Court etiquette.
- Cisco Webex | Test online meeting for practitioners and parties to familiarise themselves with a Webex meeting prior to their virtual Court event.
The Webex experience is similar to Microsoft Teams.
For resources available in various languages, see the Webex Help Centre and select your language from the top right:
- Join a Webex Meeting for the first time as a guest
- Choose your audio and video settings before you join a meeting or webinar
- Webex Meetings mobile app resources
Your support
The Courts are committed to ensuring that parties and practitioners are confident in the use of Webex as outlined in 'Training and helpful resources' section above. We ask that practitioners assist unrepresented parties with information about how to access the daily Court list and Webex details, where necessary.
If you experience any difficulties with the Webex platform, please contact the Chambers of the presiding judicial officer, ensuring that both parties are copied into such correspondence in line with the Guide to Communicating with the Courts.
