Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Magellan List

1009

Follow this procedure when responding to reports and orders from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (when exercising family law jurisdiction) and matters on the Magellan List.

Document ID number 1009, version 7, 31 December 2025.

Introduction

Under the Family Law Act (Cth) (Family Law Act), a report or request may be made to Child Protection by the court in the following circumstances:

The court requests the intervention in the proceedings of an officer of the appropriate state child welfare department (which is the Secretary of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (the department) in Victoria) – s91B of the Family Law Act.
An interested person or party to the proceedings alleges that a child to whom the proceedings relate has been abused or is at risk of abuse – s67Z of the Family Law Act.
A court registrar, a family consultant, a family counsellor, a family dispute resolution practitioner, an arbitrator or an independent children’s lawyer (ICL) makes a report – s67ZA of the Family Law Act.
An order from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (or Family Court of Western Australia) compelling the department to provide information, documents, or both – s67ZBD and s67ZBE.
An order for a Magellan Report – part 6.3 of the 2819 Family Court and Federal Circuit Court Protocol between the department and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

Refer to relevant sections of the Family Law Act and obtain advice from the Child Protection Litigation Office (CPLO) if you need to clarify requirements. Secondary consultation is also available from the department’s family law liaison program.

See Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Magellan List – advice for additional information.

Procedure

Case practitioner tasks – s67Z and s67ZA reports, s91B orders and Magellan orders

Register the report in the Client Relationship Information System (CRIS) as an intake report with the reporter source as either the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia or Magistrates’ Court of Victoria’ and select the appropriate intake type.
s67ZBD and s67ZBE orders are not reports to Child Protection and should not be registered as such.
Contact the court registry that is responsible for the matter to obtain any additional information that may not be included in the material provided, including if the child or family is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Refer to Identifying Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children for direction.
Advise the registry of the relevant court in writing if there are Children’s Court orders, proceedings, or both listed. If proceedings are on foot in both jurisdictions, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia may adjourn the proceedings before that court pending a final determination being made in the Children’s Court.
If there is an Independent Children’s Lawyer (ICL) appointed, contact the child’s legal representative to obtain additional information that may not be in the report.
Consult with your supervisor and make a recommendation within three days of the date of the report, and obtain team manager endorsement for:
- report classification
- phase outcome.
Record a new report from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia or Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (when exercising family law jurisdiction) regarding a current case via new allegation as either a familial or non-familial allegation.
Consult with your supervisor and the CPLO to consider the option of appearing as 'friend of the court' or to intervene as a party in family law proceedings. Secondary consultation is available from the department’s family law liaison program.
Seek endorsement from your team manager and area operations manager or director, Child Protection if seeking to appear as amicus curiae a ‘(a friend of the court)’.
Seek endorsement from the area operations manager and director, Child Protection to intervene as a party to the proceedings.
Respond to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (or Magistrates’ Court of Victoria) in writing explaining the outcome of the report, which will be either:
- take no further action and reasons why
- investigate the report and further time is required to provide information to the court
- issue Children’s Court proceedings
- seek leave to appear amicus curiae (friend of the court), or
- seek leave to become a party to the proceedings
If the report is to be investigated, advise the court of the decision to classify the report as a protective intervention report following an intake risk assessment and confirm an investigation will occur and whether additional time is required and likely timeline of response.
Follow the usual steps required – see Receiving, registering and classifying a report.
If no investigation will be undertaken, when endorsed, prepare the case for closure.
- ensure records are complete and correct including client details, associated people, involved agencies and professionals and date of next family law hearing;.
- record the rationale for decisions
- complete the phase outcome
- move case to closure phase.

Case practitioner tasks – section 67ZBD and section 67ZBE orders

Provide information as set out in the order, under s67ZBD and s67ZBE of the Family Law Act, which compels the department to provide this information.

The order is not a Child Protection report.

Provide this information using the s67ZBD AND s67ZBE templates.

See s67ZBD and s67ZBE tip sheets for additional support.

Record the order in the court summary screen by selecting the ‘create other order’ tab and selecting either the s67ZBE or s67ZBE order type.
Upload the court order to a CRIS case note with the case note heading “s67ZBD/s67ZBE Order” and include details as to when the order was made and when the response is to be provided.

Allocated case practitioner tasks

Conduct the investigation according to the Investigation procedure.
Submit a written response by the next listed court date (or request for further time) to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia or Magistrates’ Court of Victoria. Explain the outcome of the report, for example:
- an investigation has concluded, the concerns were substantiated or not substantiated; and whether there is relevant information for the court that could be sought through an order
- a protection application has been issued
- Child Protection seeks leave to appear amicus curiae (friend of the court'), or
- Child Protection seeks leave to become party to the proceedings (consult with the CPLO and seek endorsement from the area operations manager or director, Child Protection before proposing this option).
Where insufficient time has been allowed by the court to complete an investigation or the matter is complex and requires further assessment, write to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia outlining the fact that the assessment is incomplete and indicating the date that information will be available.

Allocated practitioner tasks for Magellan List cases

See the Family Court website for more about the Magellan program.
Conduct the investigation according to the Investigation procedures.
Provide the Magellan Report by the requested date using the template contained in the Magellan Tip Sheet. If you need more time to complete the investigation, consult your supervisor and the department’s family law liaison program before seeking an adjournment from the Magellan registrar.

Supervisor tasks

Provide ongoing supervision and consultation.

Team manager tasks

Endorse key decisions including:
- appearance as ‘friend of the court’
- classification of reports
- significant decision points
- endorsement of written response to the court
- case closure
- case transfer.

Area operations manager or director, Child Protection tasks

Endorse decision to seek leave to become a party to the proceedings.

Related procedures and resources