New YouTube channels helping couples navigate divorce:

Facing the prospect of divorce can be frightening, but new YouTube channels are helping couples navigate family law procedures.

Launched by The Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia, the official YouTube channels provide informational videos aimed at helping un-represented litigants with court procedures.

The courts receive about 45,000 divorce applications a year. Of those 45,000 applications almost 70% have no legal representation.

One aspect of the divorce process, serving documents, has been identified as an area which causes confusion to some clients and is the subject of the first video.

How to apply for a divorce: serving divorce papers was produced by the courts to help un-represented litigants understand and carry out the process of service in divorce applications.

This video is the first in a series of videos planned to provide court users with simple information in a digital format which differs from the usual printed fact sheet.

Richard Foster, Chief Executive Officer, Family Court and Federal Circuit Court, said ‘The courts aim to help clients through the legal system in what is often a difficult time in their lives.”

“The move from traditional to online media reflects the ways in which clients are searching for information and also reflects the changing ways in which people are consuming information."

This is a further step in the use of technology and social media as a means to make the court process more accessible and to better communicate with court users.

Family Court of Australia’s YouTube channel is at www.youtube.com/familycourtAU and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia’s YouTube channel is at www.youtube.com/federalcircuitcourt