News 2023

Children's Court Annual Review 2022

December 2023: The Children’s Court of New South Wales has published its first Annual Review. The Annual Review provides detailed insights into the work undertaken by the Court in the 2022 Calendar Year, including the following:

• A history and overview of the Children’s Court
• Workload trends for the Children’s Court’s Care and Protection, Crime, Apprehended Violence Order, and Education jurisdictions
• The Children’s Court’s recent initiatives and specialist court processes and services
• The work undertaken by the Children’s Court to improve services to Aboriginal Communities
• Projects and resources relating to legal education, support and engagement with the community

Children's Law News

December 2023: CLN 2023 Volume 2 has now been published and includes a number of cases and a paper which are of relevance to the Children’s Court jurisdiction.

Changes to Form 1 - Application initiating care Proceedings and accompanying report

November 2023: The Children's Court has amended its Form 1 - Application initiating care proceedings and accompanying report in response to the commencement of the remaining clauses of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Family is Culture) Bill 2022 (NSW)

The new Form 1 is to be used for all new applications filed from 15 November 2023. 

The changes to Form 1 will ensure that evidence is provided to the Children's Court regarding the Active Efforts made by the Department of Communities and Justice prior to the filing of the application, pursuant to the new s 9A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW)

Additional changes have also been made to capture information about the cultural background of both the parents and the children to assist the Court with data collection in this area. The application and accompanying report have also been amended to ensure information provided to the Court is clearer. 

The new Form 1 can be found in the Forms for care and protection proceedings section of the Children's Court website. 

Commencement of the Winha-nga List

August 2023:  The Children’s Court will introduce a dedicated court list for Aboriginal families involved in care proceedings at Dubbo Children’s Court from 4 September 2023. This follows a co-design process with Aboriginal community representatives and key stakeholders in response to Recommendation 125 of the Family is Culture Review Report. 

The list will be known as the Winha-nga-nha List (pronounced Wi-nun-ga-na). Winha-nga-nha is a word from the Wiradjuri language meaning to ‘know, think, remember’. The Children’s Court acknowledges the support of the Dubbo Aboriginal community in identifying and endorsing the Court’s use of the word in this context.    

The President of the Children's Court has issued Practice Note 18 – Winha-nga-nha List to support the operation of the list.    

A summary of the changes is explained in the Winha-nga-nha Factsheet. (PDF, 443.6 KB)

The first sitting of the Winha-nga-nha List will be Thursday 7 September 2023.

Commencement of the Youth Koori Court at Dubbo 

July 2023: Sittings at New South Wales’ first regional Youth Koori Court at Dubbo formally commenced on 21 July 2023. The President of the Children’s Court, Judge Skinner and Children’s Magistrate Duncombe welcomed the Attorney General, the Honourable Michael Daley, the Chief Magistrate of the NSW Local Courts, Judge Johnstone, and other distinguished guests at a ceremonial sitting to mark the commencement of sittings on 21 July 2023.

The Youth Koori Court factsheet (PDF, 221.9 KB) has been updated to reflect the expansion of the Court to Dubbo and Practice Note 11 was similarly amended and reissued on 17 March 2023. 

A short video has also been prepared to accompany the commencement of the Youth Koori Court at Dubbo. 

Children's Law News

June 2023: CLN 2023 Volume 1 has now been published and includes a number of cases and a paper which are of relevance to the Children’s Court jurisdiction. 

Issuing of Children's Court Form 47 and Form 48 and amendment of Form 40

March 2023: The President of the Children's Court has issued the following Court forms:

• Form 47 – Notice of transfer of primary case responsibility to a Designated Agency and confidentiality statement
• Form 48 – Notice of objection to release documents to a Designated Agency
• Form 40 – Summary of Proposed Plan (amended to include circumstances where Designated Agency has primary case responsibility)

Forms used in Children's Court care and protection proceedings are located on the Court's website under Forms and Fees.

Amendment of Children's Court Practice Notes

March 2023: The President of the Children's Court has issued amendments to the following Practice Notes:

• Practice Note 11 - Youth Koori Court: Amendments have been made to Practice Note 11 to reflect the commencement of the Youth Koori Court in Dubbo on 24 March 2023. The changes also clarify other aspects of the procedures that apply in the Youth Koori Court. These changes commence 17 March 2023. 
• Practice Note 17 - Designated Agencies in Children's Court care proceedings: Amendments have been made to clause 4 of Practice Note 17. These changes clarify confidentiality and information sharing requirements. These changes commence 20 March 2023. 

Changes to listing arrangements in Children’s Court Central Coast Circuit and Western Circuit

February 2023: The President of the Children's Court has approved changes to listing arrangements in the Court’s Central Coast Circuit and Western Circuit.

The Central Coast Circuit listing arrangements have been amended to include an additional criminal list day in Wyong on one Tuesday each month. This change will commence 3 July 2023.

The Western Circuit listing arrangements have been amended to accommodate the extension of the Youth Koori Court to Dubbo. The Youth Koori Court will commence 24 March 2023 and sit in Dubbo every second Friday. The changes to the listing arrangements will commence 23 March 2023.