National rollout of Webex for electronic hearings

Expansion to VIC, TAS, QLD, SA, NT & WA

Following the successful expansion of the Webex pilot to NSW and ACT, the Court will progress with a national rollout of Webex for electronic hearings. The rollout will be phased over the next two months:

• Migration Registrars nationally commencing on Monday 14 July 2025
• All VIC/TAS Judges and Family Law Registrars commencing on Monday 28 July 2025, and
• All QLD/SA/NT/WA Judges and Family Law Registrars commencing on Monday 11 August 2025.

As locations transition, the following electronic court events will be conducted using the Webex platform:

Family Law proceedings

• Registrars:
  • First return lists before Judicial Registrars
  • Directions hearings and Mentions before Judicial Registrars
  • Interim defended hearings before Senior Judicial Registrars that are conducted electronically
  • Dispute resolution conferences that are conducted electronically
• Judges:
  • Interim defended hearings that are conducted electronically
  • Defended hearings that are conducted electronically
  • Other short hearings conducted electronically (such as mentions and directions hearings)

General Federal Law proceedings

• Hearings before Judges that are conducted electronically
• Other short hearings conducted electronically (such as directions hearings and interlocutory hearings)
• Migration hearings before Registrars

Parties and practitioners appearing in most virtual matters will no longer receive separate listing emails from chambers containing a Microsoft Teams link before their Court event. Webex links will be available in the Commonwealth Courts Portal and the daily Court List prior to the Court event.

The Court will continue to email dial-in details or a hearing link in certain circumstances, for example, in some migration proceedings involving unrepresented applicants.

Why Webex?

Webex utilises one static link for each Judicial Officer 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 they handle.

How do I access the Webex link?

There are 2 ways to access Webex links for a Court event:

1. Visit the daily Court List:

• Click the Webex link (listed above the name of the presiding judicial officer) to enter the virtual courtroom. Example:

• For matters that are conducted by phone, dial in details are provided (listed above the name of the presiding judicial officer). Example:

2. 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.

We welcome your feedback and suggestions about the extended Webex pilot by email to suggestions@fcfcoa.gov.au.

Thank you for your participation and cooperation with this important initiative.