Courtroom 1 in the High Court in
Canberra.
There are two broad levels within the hierarchy of
Australian
courts, the
federal level and the
state and territory level. While the court system in each state is separate from each other, and from the Commonwealth system, the High Court of Australia remains the ultimate court of appeal in the Australian system.
Superior and Inferior Courts
Superior Courts are those which have, originally, unlimited jurisdiction to hear disputes and are the highest courts in their section of the Australia court hierarchy. They may hear disputes in all areas, and are only limited by legitimate legislation. These are the Supreme Courts, in each state, and the High Court of Australia for the country generally. Each is created as part of the
Constitution of Australia, or for the Supreme Courts, by the Constitution of that state.
Inferior Courts are those which are considered secondary to Superior Courts. Their existence is from legislation and their powers are the opposite of Superior Courts: they only have the power to decide on matters where parliament grants them the power to do so. Decisions in inferior courts normally (but not always) can be appealed to the Superior Court in that area (eg, from a District Court to a Supreme Court; or from the
Federal Magistrates' Court to the
Family Court of Australia or
Federal Court of Australia).
Federal courts
These courts among them have
jurisdiction over
Commonwealth law, that is, law made by the
Federal parliament of Australia.
High Court of Australia
The
High Court is the highest court in Australia. It was created by section 71 of the
Constitution. It has
appellate jurisdiction over all other courts. It also has some original jurisdiction, and has the power of constitutional review. The High Court of Australia is the superior court to all federal courts, and is also the final route of appeal from all state superior courts.
Prior to
1975, when appeals were abolished, a route of appeal lay from the High Court to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the
United Kingdom. Such appeals are now only theoretically possible in
''inter se'' matters with leave of the High Court. The High Court has indicated it will not grant such leave in the future. Appeals to the High Court are by special leave only, and therefore for most cases, the Supreme Courts of each state and the Federal Court are ultimate appellate courts. The Full Court of the High Court is the ultimate appeal court for Australia.
Federal Court of Australia
The
Federal Court primarily hears matters relating to corporations, trade practices, industrial relations, bankruptcy, customs, immigration and other areas of federal law. The court has original jurisdiction in these areas, and also has the power to hear appeals from a number of tribunals and other bodies (and, in some circumstances, from the
Federal Magistrates' Court of Australia.)
The court is an inferior court to the High Court of Australia and was created by power of the Federal Court of Australia Act in 1976.
Decisions of the High Court are binding on the Federal Court. There is an appeal level of the Federal Court (the "Full Court" of the Federal Court) which consists of several judges, perhaps three or five.
Family Court of Australia
The
Family Court has jurisdiction over
family law matters. It is a inferior court and was established in
1975 by the
Family Law Act 1975 by the federal parliament. The Family Court's powers, especially in relation to children, were given to the commonwealth by almost all states in the 1970s; however, as Western Australia had already established its own Family Court, the Family Court of Australia does not cover Western Australia. For more information, see
Family Court of Western Australia.
The Family Court is a specialist family law court, involving parental disputes, matrimonial property, child support and other family-related laws. The principles of
stare decisis (binding law from higher courts) are the same as for the Federal Court. Appeals from a single justice of the Family Court are heard by a "Full Court" of the Family Court (three to five judges). Appeals from the Full Court lie to the High Court of Australia.
Like the Federal Court, the Family Court has the power to hear appeals from the
Federal Magistrates Court of Australia in some cases.
Federal Magistrates' Court of Australia
The
Federal Magistrates' Court of Australia was established in 1999 (
Federal Magistrates' Service Act 1999, later renamed Federal Magistrates' Court) to ease the large caseload on the Federal and Family Courts.
The Court is an inferior court but, under its statutes, is not technically inferior to the Federal and Family Courts. However, appeals from the Federal Magistrates' Court go to either of these courts, dependent on the area of law.
Decisions of the Full Court of the Federal and Family Courts are binding on Federal Magistrates, as are decisions of these courts on appeal from a Federal Magistrate. In other circumstances, decisions of a single Federal or Family Court judge are not strictly binding; however, these will usually be followed.
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
The
Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the AAT) was established in 1975. It is the main method of reviewing and appealing administrative decisions of the
Commonwealth Government and its departments.
It is not a court (in that it does not exercise judicial power) but an administrative method of review. However, it operates in a similar manner to an informal court.
Appeals from decisions of the AAT lie to the Federal Court, which may choose to send the appeal to the Federal Magistrates' Court for hearing.
State and territory courts
Each state has a court hierarchy of its own, with the jurisdictions of each court varying from state to state. However, all states have a Supreme Court, which are superior courts and are the highest court within that state. These courts also have appeal divisions, known as the Full Court or Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court (in civil matters), or the Court of Criminal Appeal (in criminal matters.)
Decisions of the Full Court of the High Court (but not decisions of a single High Court judge) are binding on all Australia courts, including state Supreme Courts.
The state courts can sometimes exercise federal jurisdiction (i.e. rule on matters subject to federal legislation.) However, this "cross-vesting power" does not allow federal courts to exercise state jurisdiction, due to limits under the Australian Constitution.
Most of the states have two further levels of courts, which are comparable across the country. The District Court (or County Court) handles most criminal trials for indictable offences, and most civil matters. The Magistrates' Court (or Local Court) handles
summary matters and smaller civil matters. In jurisdictions without District or County Courts, most of those matters are dealt with by the Supreme Courts.
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