Ceremonial Sitting to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1)
Speech delivered by Tania Wolff, President of the Law Council of Australia at the Federal Circuit and Family Law Court of Australia in Melbourne, 20 February 2026.
"May it please the Court.
I echo the acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Bunurong and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples. I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and I thank Ms Cathy Dowsett SC for her Welcome to Country.
I acknowledge Your Honour Chief Justice Alstergren AO; the Attorney General, the Honourable Michelle Rowland MP; many distinguished judicial officers and guests; colleagues; and friends.
It is a privilege to appear on behalf of the Law Council of Australia and the Australian legal profession on this significant milestone, and to congratulate the Court on 50 years of service to the Australian community.
Today we mark more than the anniversary of an institution. We recognise fifty years of a national commitment: that when families fracture, when children’s lives are disrupted, and when questions of safety and care must be resolved, Australia will respond through a court system that strives to be both authoritative and humane.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1), formerly the Family Court of Australia — is a specialist court — established at a time of profound social change. Today it is entrusted with the most complex family law trials and the appellate work that gives coherence and guidance to the entire system.
Its appellate role is not abstract. It is how consistency is built across a continent. It is how principle is clarified. And it is how fairness becomes more predictable for the families who rely upon it.
Fifty years on, it is easy to forget how visionary the Court’s establishment was.
It reflected a recognition that family law required not only legal authority, but a system capable of responding to human complexity with compassion and dignity.
From its earliest conception as a “helping court”, the ambition was clear: that law could be delivered with humanity without sacrificing rigour or independence.
What has sustained that ambition over five decades is the Court’s willingness to evolve.
Family law, as everyone in this room understands, is unlike any other jurisdiction. It deals with people at their most vulnerable and with children who have no choice about the conflict surrounding them. It confronts family violence, coercive control, trauma and urgent risk. It asks judges to make decisions that shape a child’s daily life — where they live, how they are protected, and how they remain connected to the people they love."
Last Updated on 24/02/2026