- Family Court registrar and legal firm director appointed as Family Court Magistrates
- Samantha Craig and Stacey Wellings bring significant family law expertise to the role
Attorney General John Quigley is pleased to announce the appointment of Stacey Wellings and Samantha Craig as new Magistrates of the Family Court of Western Australia (FCWA).
The experienced legal practitioners, who have spent most of their careers in the family law area, will start presiding in the FCWA on 6 January 2025.
Admitted to practice in 2006, Ms Craig has already served as a registrar of the court since October 2023.
As an FCWA registrar, she determined acceptance and listing of urgent applications, reviewed consent orders and presided over divorce lists and other hearings.
She also chaired conciliation conferences, including property and children's matters, as well as contravention and pre-trial conferences.
Prior to this, Ms Craig was a solicitor with Legal Aid WA's family law division for 11 years. There she practised predominantly as an Independent Children's Lawyer and was involved in trials.
Ms Wellings joins the judiciary after working at the same family law firm for more than 15 years. She became a director of the firm in mid-2017.
During her time in private practice, she acted as an instructing solicitor and appeared as counsel in a wide range of matters.
These matters included property settlement, spousal maintenance, child support, children and parenting issues and binding financial agreements.
While balancing a large case load with her leadership responsibilities, Ms Wellings also served as president of the Family Law Practitioners' Association of WA for the past two years.
She received a young family lawyer of the year award in 2016, only five years after being admitted to practice.
As stated by Attorney General John Quigley:
"I welcome Samantha Craig and Stacey Wellings as new magistrates to sit in the Family Court.
"They have worked in all aspects of family law and handled complex matters with distinction, gaining an intimate knowledge of the family legal system.
"Their expertise in this area makes Ms Wellings and Ms Craig well-credentialled appointees and I am confident they will enhance the court's management of a substantial workload."
