Page 3079 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 16 September 2015
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court system. As I have stated earlier, adoptions take an average of 11 weeks from lodgement to final hearing. That is not a slow process and it underlines, unfortunately I think, a misunderstanding about the process of adoption when it comes to our courts.
The period for hearing adoption matters will be extended where there are disputed matters requiring court management. But I am advised by the court that disputed matters are rare, possibly because of the amount of time that is taken up-front before an application is made to the court and also because many of the matters in the court tend to relate to local adoptions rather than to overseas ones.
So my colleague Mr Gentleman will talk further about the important work that happens before an adoption matter is brought to the Supreme Court but I take the opportunity today to assure Ms Lawder of the government’s ongoing commitment to improving the operation and performance of our courts. Working with the courts to improve service delivery is a priority for the government and I am pleased to say we have had considerable success.
The Supreme Court’s performance in relation to backlog and waiting times has improved very significantly in the last five years. Let me highlight particularly the area of civil matters. The number of civil matters pending for more than 24 months, that is, effectively long-wait matters, reduced from 381 in 2010-11 to just 83 in 20l3-14. Procedural and administrative improvements, government support and legislative reform have all assisted in streamlining our court’s processes and have all contributed to this success.
I particularly highlight the funding provided by the government for acting judicial officers which has contributed to a significant reduction in the backlog of pending cases. And as members would be aware, the government announced in the most recent budget funds to appoint a fifth resident judge of the court to commence on 1 July next year.
But let me reiterate that it is simply not true to assert that a backlog of civil cases in our courts is responsible for long waits in the critical adoption process. The average time is 11 weeks. Let me outline that this has been a pretty consistent figure since 2012-13. In 2012-13 lodgement to listing average time was nine weeks and listing to finalisation was six weeks. In 2013-14 lodging to listing average time was eight weeks and listing to finalisation was six weeks. In 2014-15 lodging to listing average time was seven weeks and listing to finalisation average time was four weeks. In this financial year lodging to listing average time was seven weeks and listing to finalisation is yet to be determined as those matters are not yet finalised and there have only been two matters filed to date.
I think it is quite clear that our courts are dealing with these applications in a timely manner and that the government’s investment in a range of measures to improve the effective functioning of our court system has contributed in this regard. I will leave the other matters on this very important matter to my colleague Minister Gentleman, but I think we need to be clear that it is wrong to assert that there is delay in the courts. The evidence speaks to the contrary.
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