Thousands of Australian families have been waiting more than a year to have their disputes heard in court.

Notorious backlogs in the Family and Federal Circuit courts have reduced slightly in the past 12 months.

But more than half of the 3000 pending matters before the Family Court are more than one year old, along with one-third of 17,000 family law matters before the Federal Circuit Court.

Family Court chief executive Louise Anderson said more judges and registrars are needed to cut through the backlog.

"It would be difficult at this point to say whether filling those vacancies would be sufficient," Ms Anderson told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Tuesday.

"But certainly in conjunction with a number of case management initiatives it will make a good impact on the backlog."

There are three vacancies in both the Family and Federal Circuit courts and another vacancy in the Federal Court.

"As always, it's very helpful if those appointments are made expeditiously," Ms Anderson said.

The vacancies have all arisen since December and are under "active consideration" by the federal government.

Courts dealing with family law matters are also working to "harmonise" rules to deal with cases more efficiently.

Consultations on the changes are due to begin by the end of March and span more than 12 months.