The Wire

It is likely to be easier for Aboriginal grandparents to apply for parenting orders for their grandchildren thanks to a new Reconciliation Action Plan at the Federal Circuit Court. Chief Judge John Pascoe was propelled to create the plan after he visited Aboriginal elders in Dubbo a few years ago. During his time in the city, about 300km north-west of Sydney, he discovered that grandparents were finding it difficult to access the court system to stop their grandchildren from being taken in to state care.

The new plan aims to tackle the problem by making the court a more welcoming place for Aboriginal people and overcoming the tyranny of distance by holding more hearings in remote communities.