Parliament today passed two important bills to make Australia’s family law system simpler, safer and more accessible for separated families and their children.
Family Law Amendment Bill
The Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 will ensure that the best interests of children are at the centre of all parenting decisions made in or out of court, and will make the system easier to navigate.
Significantly, the amendments passed today will remove the presumption of ‘equal shared parental responsibility’ provisions in the Family Law Act 1975. In 2017, a cross-party parliamentary committee found that these provisions were confusing, failed to prioritise children’s safety and were inappropriately applied in a way that put children at risk. These findings are in line with the overwhelming consensus of family law experts.
Under the new laws, parenting decisions must be based solely on what is in the best interests of the child.
The new laws also include
- A requirement for independent children’s advocates to meet directly with children;
- Greater powers to protect parties and children from the harmful effects of protracted and adversarial litigation;
- A definition of ‘family member’ in the Family Law Act that includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts of family and kinship;
- Simplified compliance and enforcement provisions for child-related orders;
- Powers to enable the Government to regulate family reporters;
- ensuring that children’s voices are more easily heard in matters under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
These reforms are long overdue and will improve the lives of Australian families. In the nine years of the previous government, there were more than two dozen reviews of the family law system, with hundreds of recommendations that were simply ignored.
The Albanese Government is making separated families safer by acting where the previous government failed to act for so many years.
Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023
The Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023 will ensure that courts have access to the full picture of a family’s safety risk in order to prioritise the safety of children and families, particularly where there is a risk of child abuse, neglect or family violence.
This important change advances the Government’s commitment to end gender-based violence in a generation.
The Bill:
- creates two new information-sharing orders to enable courts to obtain information directly and quickly from police, child protection and firearms agencies about family violence, child abuse and neglect that could put children at risk;
- allows a court to make these orders at any point during proceedings so that information is accurate and up to date;
- will ensures that sensitive information is only disclosed in a secure and appropriate manner.
This legislation is informed by the Australian Law Reform Commission’s 2019 report, Family Law for the Future – An inquiry into the Family Law System, and reflects the Government’s response to the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System.
The Government’s legislation will result in more family law matters being resolved quickly, safely and cheaply, without compromising the safety of family members.
The Government recognises the advocacy of people with lived experience of family and domestic violence. Their stories have been central to the development and passage of these important reforms and I thank them for their contribution.
These long overdue reforms are significant, but we know there is more work to be done. An exposure draft of a second Family Law Bill has already been published for consultation to further improve the family law system. Read more about these further reforms.