For the last few years significant light has been shed on the current Family Law system and its overall effectiveness as a mechanism for determining Family Law disputes in a way that is timely, cost-effective and attuned to the needs of litigants and their children. Between October 2020 and November 2021, the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System delivered three interim and one final report addressing the findings of their Family Law inquiry. In their response of 25 January 2023, the Albanese Government recognised:

The evidence presented to the Committee highlighted a family law system that faces significant challenges, including in relation to costs to parties, legal assistance, addressing family violence and placing the best interests of children at its centre. The Government is committed to restoring the family law system so that it is accessible, safer, simpler to use, and delivers justice and fairness for all Australian Families.

Practitioners are already moving through the various changes which have been introduced at various times since the inquiry began.

Notably, significant changes were implemented in September 2021 as the two Court’s predominantly responsible for determining Family Law matters, the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court, were merged in to one Court, which has streamlined processes overall. The implementation of the new Rules (the Federal Circuit and Family Court (Family Law) Rules 2021) as well as various practice directions, have assisted practitioners since this time in navigating the system with their clients as quickly and inexpensively as possible, providing an overall rubric for how matters should be conducted.

From 28 November 2022, the Lighthouse project extended to become an ongoing program in 15 major Family law registries to manage cases where significant risk was involved and from the earliest opportunity, and on 30 October 2023 the Priority Property Pool Cases list expanded nationally to all filing registries to provide a case pathway for low asset matters with the aim to best preserve the parties assets.

Now, in 2024 the Government is set to implement further significant changes to the Family Law Act 1975. As of 6 May 2024, major changes will take effect with such changes to include how the Court are required to determine parenting disputes. Key changes will include:

1. Changes to how the Court are to determine the “best interests of the Child”, including abandoning the previous “hierarchy” of considerations and identifying six key categories of considerations for the Court;
2. The removal of current pathways which require the Court to consider equal time and shared parental responsibility, including removal of the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility;
3. The adoption of previous case law principles surrounding changes to Final Parenting Orders;
4. Clarification of the consequences of non-compliance with Parenting Orders;
5. Changes to delegated powers to Registrars in relation to ‘make-up’ time orders;
6. Clarifications of definitions including in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families;
7. Requirements for Independent Children’s Lawyers to meet with children and provide them with opportunities to express views, subject to certain exceptions;
8. The establishment of a criminal offence as to disclosing the identify of any person connected to a Family Law proceeding.

Overall, the changes set to take affect dramatically change what parents need to know about how their matter will be decided by a Court, with the additional effect being that practitioners who advise clients from 6 May 2024 onwards will not have a substantial body of law to draw from in regards to the interpretation of the legislation. While the overarching purpose of the system remains the same, it appears practitioners in this area are officially entering new ground.

Don’t get left behind. If you need help understanding how these changes may affect you, call and book an appointment with our Family Lawyer.