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On 1 March 2020, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia piloted The Priority Property Pool (PPP) Case management system in anumber of registries throughout Australia including Melbourne.
On 30 October 2023, this case management approach was expanded nationally to all filing registries with a new broader criteria.
The aim of the PPP case program or PPP List is to reduce delays and legal costs for Property division and Spousal maintenance matters where the combined Property pool has or appears to have a net value (excluding superannuation) of $550,000 or under or the netvalue of the asset pool of the parties (excluding superannuation) is not significantly greater than $550,000 and the court in its discretion makes a declaration or a notation that the proceeding is designated as a PPP case in circumstances where:
- Having regard to the relevant assets of the parties, the court considers it appropriate to include the matter as a PPP case; and/or
- Due to the parties or a party having a particular vulnerability including having regard to the location of the parties, demographic features of the parties or allegations of family violence including coercive control, the court considers it appropriate to include the matter as a PPP case; and/or
- The court otherwise in its discretion makes a declaration or notation that the proceeding is designated as a PPP case.
The PPP case program does not extend to cases where :
1. The asset pool includes an entity or entities such as the family trust, company or partnership owned or in the effective control of either party, where the value is contested and requires valuation or expert investigation;
2. Proceedings where only Parenting orders are sought;
3. Child support cases;
4. Child maintenance cases;
5. Contravention applications;
6. Enforcement applications.
The benefit of the PPP list includes reduction in the amount of documents a party must prepare and file to commence proceedings noting If you qualify for the PPP list, you only need file an Initiating application, Financial summary and Genuine step certificate.
Other features of the list include:
- Step one – before the first court date, preliminary orders will be made by judicial registrar in chambers.
- Step two – at the first court date before a Judicial registrar, the balance sheet will be settled and the case will be referred to a Conciliation conference, private mediation or legal aid conference.
- Step three – the dispute resolution session occurs With a judicial registrar, external mediator or legal aid conference.
- Step four – at the second court date, if the case did not settle, the balance sheet will be checked and the case will be listed for Compliance and readiness hearing before a judge. In order to limit costs, it is encouraged that if the matter did not settle at the dispute resolution stage, parties can write to the Judicial registrar and request a Compliance and readiness hearing date and that the second court date be vacated, so parties can avoid the costs associated with a court appearance.
- Step five – Compliance and Readiness hearing before a judge.
- Step six – Final hearing - also noting if both parties agree, the Final hearing can be a short form expedited hearing where the judge decides which of the rules of evidence apply, material and evidence is focused on and limited to the issues in dispute, the judge decides whether or not you or your former partner/spouse/lawyers should ask any questions of the other party and if so, for how long and the length of hearing is limited.
Other features and benefits include:
1. Proactive referral to appropriate services.
2. Where possible, the number of court appearances are reduced.
3. There are opportunities for resolution at an early stage.
4. There is intensive monitoring of compliance with orders to ensure that necessary documents are produced and valuations completed.
For support on any family law matter please contact one of our friendly team.