1General

#### 1 General (1) Each prospective party to a proceeding in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia must make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute before filing an application to start proceedings by following the pre‑action procedures outlined in clause 3 of this Part. (2) There may be serious consequences for non‑compliance with the pre‑action procedures, including costs penalties or a stay of proceedings pending compliance. (3) The circumstances in which the court may accept that it was not possible or appropriate for a party to follow the pre‑action procedures are outlined in subrule 4.01(2). (4) The objectives of the pre‑action procedures are as follows: (a) to encourage early and full disclosure in appropriate proceedings by the exchange of information and documents about the prospective proceeding; (b) to provide parties with a process to avoid legal action by reaching a settlement of the dispute before starting a proceeding; (c) to provide parties with a procedure to resolve the proceeding quickly and limit costs; (d) to ensure the efficient management of proceedings in the court, if proceedings become necessary; (e) to encourage parties, if proceedings become necessary, to seek only those orders that are reasonably achievable on the evidence; (f) to give effect to the overarching purpose of the family law practice and procedure provisions as provided by section 95 of the Family Law Act 1975. (5) At all stages during the pre‑action procedures and, if a proceeding is started, during the conduct of the proceedings, the parties must have regard to the following: (a) the best interests of any child, including the need to protect and safeguard the child against risk or harm; (b) the developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs of the child, the capacity of each person who is proposed to have parental responsibility for the child to provide for those needs, and the benefit to the child of being able to have a relationship with people who are significant to them, where it is safe to do so; (c) the potential damage to a child involved in a dispute between the parents, particularly if the child is encouraged to take sides or take part in the dispute; (d) the best way of exploring options for settlement, identifying the issues as soon as possible, and seeking resolution of them; (e) the need to avoid protracted, unnecessary, hostile and inflammatory exchanges; (f) the impact of correspondence on the intended reader (in particular, on the parties); (g) the need to seek only orders that are reasonably achievable on the evidence and that are consistent with the current law; (h) the principle of proportionality and the need to control costs because it is unacceptable for the costs of any proceeding to be disproportionate to the financial value of the subject matter of the dispute; (i) the duty to make full and frank disclosure of all material facts, documents and other information relevant to the dispute. > Note The duty of disclosure extends to the requirement to disclose any significant changes (see clause 4 of this Part). (6) Parties must not: (a) use the pre‑action procedures for an improper purpose (for example, to harass the other party or cause unnecessary cost or delay); or (b) in correspondence, raise irrelevant issues or issues that may cause the other party to adopt an entrenched, polarised or hostile position. (7) The court expects parties to take a sensible and responsible approach to the pre‑action procedures. (8) The parties are not expected to continue to follow the pre‑action procedures if it is not safe to do so, or if reasonable attempts to follow the pre‑action procedures have not achieved a satisfactory solution. (9) At the time of filing an application to start a proceeding or a response to that application, a party must file a Genuine Steps Certificate outlining: (a) both: (i) the party’s compliance with the pre‑action procedures; and (ii) the genuine steps taken by the party to resolve the dispute; or (b) the basis of any claim for an exemption from compliance with either or both the requirements referred to in subparagraphs (a)(i) and (ii).