23.
subsequently appealed and the occasions on which bail was awarded. The very existence within the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department of a Division of Judicial Administration is testimony to the ability to distinguish between the judicial and administrative aspects of the operation of the courts."
65 What was the Division of Judicial Administration within the Attorney-General's Department doing in 1979 to allow its "very existence" to be "testimony to the ability to distinguish between the judicial and administrative aspects of the operation of the courts"? The answer was apparent from the Annual Report of the Attorney-General's Department[1]. In anticipation of the enactment of the High Court of Australia Act 1979 (Cth), the Division was providing "administrative assistance in the development of an independent system of judicial administration" as well as providing "assistance in the detailed planning, furnishing and the general fitting out of the High Court building in Canberra and in matters associated with the move of the High Court to Canberra"[2]. The Attorney-General's Department was in the meantime providing staff and "management services" for the Sydney and Melbourne registries of the High Court as well as "registry services", in addition to providing ongoing "management services and general administrative assistance" to the Federal Court as well as staffing and maintaining registries of the Family Court[3].
66 With the commencement of the High Court of Australia Act 1979 (Cth) in 1980, it became the responsibility of the High Court itself to "administer its own affairs"[4] and for that purpose the High Court was given power "to do all things … necessary or convenient to be done for or in connection with the administration of its affairs" including, without limitation, power to: enter into contracts; acquire, hold and dispose of property; take on hire, exchange, and accept on deposit or loan, library material and also furnishings, equipment and goods needed for the purposes of the Court; and control and manage any land or building occupied by the Court and any adjacent land or building that is part of the precincts of the Court [5].
