DOCSLIB.ORG

Review of the Family Law System: Discussion Paper

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Review of the Family Law System: Discussion Paper Review of the Family Law System: Discussion Paper Australian Law Reform Commission 16 November 2018 Telephone +61 2 6246 3788 • Fax +61 2 6248 0639 Email [email protected] GPO Box 1989, Canberra ACT 2601, DX 5719 Canberra 19 Torrens St Braddon ACT 2612 Law Council of Australia Limited ABN 85 005 260 622 www.lawcouncil.asn.au Table of Contents About the Law Council of Australia ............................................................................... 3 Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5 Responses to Proposals ................................................................................................ 7 About the Law Council of Australia The Law Council of Australia exists to represent the legal profession at the national level, to speak on behalf of its Constituent Bodies on national issues, and to promote the administration of justice, access to justice and general improvement of the law. The Law Council advises governments, courts and federal agencies on ways in which the law and the justice system can be improved for the benefit of the community. The Law Council also represents the Australian legal profession overseas, and maintains close relationships with legal professional bodies throughout the world. The Law Council was established in 1933, and represents 16 Australian State and Territory law societies and bar associations and the Law Firms Australia, which are known collectively as the Council’s Constituent Bodies. The Law Council’s Constituent Bodies are: • Australian Capital Territory Bar Association • Australian Capital Territory Law Society • Bar Association of Queensland Inc • Law Institute of Victoria • Law Society of New South Wales • Law Society of South Australia • Law Society of Tasmania • Law Society Northern Territory • Law Society of Western Australia • New South Wales Bar Association • Northern Territory Bar Association • Queensland Law Society • South Australian Bar Association • Tasmanian Bar • Law Firms Australia • The Victorian Bar Inc • Western Australian Bar Association Through this representation, the Law Council effectively acts on behalf of more than 60,000 lawyers across Australia. The Law Council is governed by a board of 23 Directors – one from each of the constituent bodies and six elected Executive members. The Directors meet quarterly to set objectives, policy and priorities for the Law Council. Between the meetings of Directors, policies and governance responsibility for the Law Council is exercised by the elected Executive members, led by the President who normally serves a 12 month term. The Council’s six Executive members are nominated and elected by the board of Directors. Members of the 2018 Executive as at 1 January 2018 are: • Mr Morry Bailes, President • Mr Arthur Moses SC, President-Elect • Mr Konrad de Kerloy, Treasurer • Mr Tass Liveris, Executive Member • Ms Pauline Wright, Executive Member • Mr Geoff Bowyer, Executive Member The Secretariat serves the Law Council nationally and is based in Canberra. Acknowledgement The Law Council of Australia (LCA) acknowledges that this submission has been prepared by the Executive of the Family Law Section (FLS). The Family Law Section is the largest of the Law Council of Australia’s specialist Sections. Since its inception in 1985, the Family Law Section has developed a strong reputation as a source for innovative, constructive and informed advice in all areas of family law reform and policy development. With a national membership of more than 2600 it is committed to furthering the interests and objectives of family law for the benefit of the community. The current members of the Family Law Section Executive are: • Wendy Kayler-Thomson (Chair) • Paul Doolan (Deputy Chair) • Michael Kearney SC (Treasurer) • Dr Jacoba Brasch QC • Sarah Bastian-Jordan • Di Simpson • Minal Vohra SC • Kate Mooney • Greg Howe • Jaquie Palavra • Nicola Watts Immediate Past Chair, Geoffrey Sinclair, was not involved in the preparation of this submission. Law Council Constituent Bodies The following Law Council Constituent bodies broadly support the general policy positions advanced in this submission: • Australian Capital Territory Law Society • Bar Association of Queensland Inc • Law Institute of Victoria • Law Society of New South Wales • Law Society of South Australia • New South Wales Bar Association • Queensland Law Society • South Australian Bar Association • The Victorian Bar Inc The Law Council is also grateful to those Constituent bodies for their assistance with the preparation of this submission. The Law Council notes that several of them propose to make supplementary submissions to the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to advance issues relevant in their State or Territory, or issues of particular interest to them. Introduction 1. The LCA is grateful for the opportunity to provide a submission to the ALRC’s Review of the Family Law System: Discussion Paper (Discussion Paper). This submission follows the LCA’s earlier submission of 7 May 2018 to the ALRC’s Review of the Family Law System—Issues Paper (IP 48) (Issues Paper). 2. The LCA has set out in the table format that follows, its specific response to more than 130 proposals and 30 questions contained within the Discussion Paper. By way of overview and general comment, the LCA notes the following: • The ALRC Discussion Paper is ambitious in its breadth of its scope, however it does not address: o the failure by successive governments to properly resource the existing Australian family law system; and o whether the existing family law system – properly resourced – would represent the best practice model for family law in the Australian context. • Rather than addressing those issues, the Discussion Paper proposes the establishment of a series of satellite services and further bodies. The Discussion Paper does not address the anticipated cost or funding of these initiatives, nor how funding might be allocated as between existing services and the courts, and new initiatives. 3. From a Family Law Commission to a Children and Young Persons advisory body and a Children’s Advocate, a host of well-intentioned ideas are put forward – yet at no time does the Discussion Paper address whether given proper funding to the courts, Independent Children’s Lawyers, Legal Aid, appointments to the Family Law Council, funding and training of family dispute resolution services and family consultants, funding of state-based welfare authorities and initiatives and the timely replacement of judges, the existing system could achieve the same goals without reinventing many of the same services under different nomenclatures. 4. Without a consideration of both that question and, further, the question of the funding of the myriad of recast initiatives, little can be expected to change for users of the family law system, save that families and children will be faced with a new and potentially underfunded landscape to negotiate. 5. The Discussion Paper does not address the extent to which certain case management failings, such as the inefficiencies of a docket system in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (particularly since the expansion of its family law jurisdiction and increase in its workload), have contributed to delays and other problems in the family law system. 6. The Discussion Paper makes a number of recommendations for changes, some of which appear to be targeted to improve the services of the system to specific users of the system (such as victims of family violence), and some which appear to have broader application to ‘families’ and ‘children’. However, the characteristics of the different users of the system (even with the specific user groups identified), their needs and vulnerabilities, or the approximate number of them are not defined. Nor does the Discussion Paper adequately consider or contemplate likely future pressures on the family law system, such as population growth, increased cultural diversity of family law system users, and the ageing of the Australian society. Coupled with the absence of assessing the funding needs for each of the Discussion Paper’s proposals, the Discussion Paper has missed the opportunity to develop a framework which would assist governments to prioritise scarce resources to the most needy and to develop a longer term funding model for existing and new services. 7. A significant component of the Discussion Paper involves looking at further or other ways to assess and maintain standards amongst those practising in the family law arena. While improving professional standards is vital, there are already comprehensive and ongoing processes in place, through for example the annual 20 hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) required of solicitors who hold a practicing certificate and maintain specialist accreditation in family law. 8. Legal practitioners are already the subject of extensive regulation by state and territory law societies, bar associations, by specialist accreditation schemes throughout Australia, and are also supported by professional bodies such as the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators (AIFLAM), the Family Law Section of the LCA, and state and territory family law associations. While the Discussion Paper notes that the ALRC seeks to supplement, rather than duplicate, existing services, the opposite
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download This PDF File
    GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY GRIFFITH JOURNAL OF LAW & HUMAN DIGNITY Editor-in-Chief Lisa Neubert Executive Editors Danyon Jacobs Dillon Mahly SamanthaEditors Raey Stuart Brown Tara Byrne Elizabeth Danaher Ana-Catarina De Sousa Lenett Hillman Dylan Johnson Iva Markova Olivia Morgan-Day Samantha Reay Natasha Robbemand Consulting Executive Editor Dr Allan Ardill Volume 7 Issue 2 2019 Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity Published in December 2019, Gold Coast, Australia by the ISSN: 2203-3114 CONTENTS BEN WHITE & LINDY A MODEL VOLUNTARY ASSISTED DYING BILL 1 WILLMOTT ANNETTE GREENHOW & DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION (OR EXCLUSION) IN SPORT: A 4 KIM WEINERT REVIEW OF THE CASTER SEMENYA CASE 8 REVEL POINTON & DR THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT IN AUSTRALIA 75 JUSTINE BELL-JAMES SIMON LEVETT PROTECTING SOURCES OF EMBEDDED JOURNALISTS 95 KATHRYN E. VAN DOORE ORPHANAGE TRAFFICKING, MODERN SLAVERY AND THE AUSTRALIAN 114 & REBECCA NHEP RESPONSE DR BRUCE BAER ARNOLD THE INDIGNITY OF ABSTRACTION: DATAMINING AND AUTONOMY IN THE 139 & DR WENDY BONYTHON AGE OF DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER GENOMICS GEORGINA DIMOPOULOS ‘DIVORCE WITH DIGNITY’ AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR PUBLICATION 161 RESTRICTIONS ON PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 (CTH) IN AN ERA OF LITIGANT SELF-PUBLICATION MICHEIL PATON & DIGNITY AND THE FUTURE OF FAMILY LAW 196 PHOEBE TAPLEY LAURA ENSINGER ABANDONING THE INNOCENT: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE LONG- 222 TERM HOLISTIC SUPPORT OF EXONEREES DR SARAH MOULDS MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE AGAIN: PATHWAYS FOR LEGAL 245 RECOGNITION OF SEX AND GENDER DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIAN LAW ‘DIVORCE WITH DIGNITY’ AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR PUBLICATION RESTRICTIONS ON PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 (CTH) IN AN ERA OF LITIGANT SELF-PUBLICATION * GEORGINA DIMOPOULOS Upon its enactment, the (Cth) closed the Family Court of Australia to the generalFamily public Law Actand 1975imposed a total prohibition on the publication of proceedings.
    [Show full text]
  • Family and the Law MESSTA HSC Legal Studies Day 2010
    Family and the Law MESSTA HSC Legal Studies day 2010 1 The Family Law System The Constitution sets out specific powers which the Commonwealth Government has. This includes at s51of the Constitution: (xxi) Marriage; (xxii) Divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants Powers not specifically listed are left to the states. The States can refer their powers to the Commonwealth. The Constitution has affected the development of family law. It necessarily has been a piecemeal process as there is no general family law power. The Commonwealth Government did not set up the Family Court until 1975. Up until then it was up to state courts to determine family law matters. It was also based on fault so issues such as adultery were relevant. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) which commenced in 1976 represents a major reform. It introduced: A specialist court, being the Family Court of Australia to deal with family disputes The court emphasised alternative dispute resolution No fault divorce - the only ground for a divorce is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably States referred powers in relation to children of unmarried parents but not child welfare or adoption between 1986 and 1990. The Federal Magistrates Court was created by the Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (Cth). The Federal Magistrates Court was designed to be quicker, cheaper and less formal that the Family Court. The Federal Magistrates Court has jurisdiction in other federal areas of law as well as family law. The Children's Cases Program was introduced in 2004.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolving Families and the Continuing Justification for Rules Particular to the Regulation of Families
    EVOLVING FAMILIES AND THE CONTINUING JUSTIFICATION FOR RULES PARTICULAR TO THE REGULATION OF FAMILIES Family and Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) National Conference 2019 21 November 2019 The Hon Justice S C Derrington President – Australian Law Reform Commission 1. Let’s start at the very beginning. The statute that contains the rules particular to the regulation of families in this country is ‘An Act relating to Marriage and to Divorce and Matrimonial Causes and, in relation thereto and otherwise, Parental Responsibility for Children, and to financial matters arising out of the breakdown of de facto relationships and to certain other Matters’ – the short title is the Family Law Act 1975. 2. The long title, however, tells us some very important things about the particular matters the Act seeks to regulate — marriage, divorce and matrimonial causes; parental responsibility for children whether within a marriage or otherwise, and financial matters arising out of the breakdown of de facto relationships. 3. It will be recalled that the Act, which came into force on 5 January 1976, was premised on the need to reform the divorce law to ‘eliminate fault, simplify procedures and reduce costs.’1 It instituted two major changes to Australian divorce law: the introduction of no-fault divorce, (something which is yet to be legislated in the UK with its Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill failing to pass before prorogation) and the establishment of a specialist multi-discipline court for the resolution of family disputes. The Act was concerned solely with matters arising within the context of marriage for more than the first three decades of its existence (with the exception of conferring jurisdiction in relation to ex-nuptial children in the late eighties).
    [Show full text]
  • Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System
    Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System 20 December 2019 Telephone +61 2 6246 3788 • Fax +61 2 6248 0639 Email [email protected] GPO Box 1989, Canberra ACT 2601, DX 5719 Canberra 19 Torrens St Braddon ACT 2612 Law Council of Australia Limited ABN 85 005 260 622 www.lawcouncil.asn.au {00615048.docx} Table of Contents About the Law Council of Australia ............................................................................... 4 Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................... 5 Acronyms and abbreviations ......................................................................................... 6 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 7 Responses to the Terms of Reference .......................................................................... 9 Term of Reference (a) ................................................................................................... 9 Information sharing .................................................................................................... 9 Sub-clause (i) of the term of reference (a) ................................................................15 Sub-clause (ii) of the term of reference (a) ................................................................15 Comments by the Law Society of NSW ....................................................................19 Term of Reference (b) ..................................................................................................21
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Cruelty in Australian Divorce
    [2006] ANZLH E-Journal A History of Cruelty in Australian Divorce Dr Colin James* ABSTRACT This paper examines the concept of matrimonial cruelty in Australia during the twentieth century. Cruelty was a matrimonial offence in Australian statutes and grounds for judicial separation or divorce until 1975. Most allegations of cruelty were by wives against their husbands. Judges often espoused on men's role as husbands, their use of power and the nature of hierarchy within marriage. I examine the background of matrimonial cruelty as it developed within English common law in the Australian colonies until Federation. While claiming to be doing justice, the courts used the grounds of cruelty in a strategy to preserve hierarchy in the marriage-based family by the silencing of women and the empowering of men. The theory was that men were 'naturally' superior to women in ways that were good for the family and ultimately for social stability. Until the 1970s, the Australian man had a legal duty to control his wife as much as a wife had a duty to obey her husband. The legal endorsement of patriarchy over decades reinforced misogynist attitudes in men as much as it provoked ultimately successful feminist demands for reform. Cruelty was abolished with all matrimonial offences by the Family Law Act 1975 however the controlling attitudes remained, to materialise in a new regime of domestic violence. Introduction This paper examines the legal concept of matrimonial cruelty with special reference to Australia during the twentieth century. Cruelty was a matrimonial offence in Australian statutes until 1975 and a finding of cruelty was grounds for judicial separation or divorce.
    [Show full text]
  • Not Appropriate for Family Dispute Resolution’ Certificates Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
    Joshua Taylor* A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PRACTITIONERS ISSUING ‘NOT APPROPRIATE FOR FAMILY DISPUTE RESOLUTION’ CERTIFICATES UNDER THE FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 (CTH) ABSTRACT Under the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner) Regu­ lations 2008 (Cth) (‘2008 Regulations’), family dispute resolution practitioners (‘FDRPs’) must conduct an intake assessment to decide whether family dispute resolution (‘FDR’) is appropriate and issue a certificate to the parties if it is not, allowing the parties to commence legal proceedings. Whether FDR is appropriate is determined according to the ability of the parties to negotiate freely, based on a series of factors listed in the 2008 Regulations.1 However, there is little in the literature which analyses how these provisions are to be applied. Existing research, while underdeveloped, suggests that FDRPs are taking a very wide interpreta- tion of the Regulations and corresponding legislation,2 and are confused as to what the Regulations require. This article therefore asks two questions: first, how are the Regulations to be interpreted? Secondly, how should FDRPs be applying these Regulations in practice? This article will argue that a purposive interpretation of the legislative scheme reveals the need for it to be interpreted narrowly and provide guidance as to how the factors listed in the Regulations should be applied in practice consistent with this narrow interpretation. It will contend that the current application of the Regulations does not always conform with best practice outlined in the literature and will make recommendations for amendments. * LLM (QUT); Accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (Attorney- General’s Department); Nationally Accredited Mediator. The author would like to thank the reviewers, Donna Cooper and Gemma Buckley, for their insightful feedback regarding the article.
    [Show full text]
  • Imagereal Capture
    THE FAMILY LAW ACT: BACKGROUND TO THE LEGISLATION BY THE HONOURABLE KEP ENDERBY* Few Acts containing provisions for general legislative change in recent years have provoked as much controversy throughout all sections of the community as the Family Law Act 1975.' This should come as no surprise, since the Act will replace the existing divorce law, which is an area of the law with which persons in all sections of the community from the very rich to the very poor can come into contact. Marital problem; know no social barriers. The history of legislative change in the area of family law, particularly divorce law, has shown that any substantial change in the divorce law in a community is likely to be attended by the vigorous expression of conficting opinion. The Family Law Act has certainly conformed to past precedents in that regard. The controversy has even penetrated the legal profession, with judges, Queen's Counsel, solicitors, women lawyers and other groups within the profession variously feeling impelled to write to newspapers and journals, to take to the air or climb onto public platforms to express their respective views on the Act. Against this background of public and professional interest, I shall describe the historical background to the Act, the policy behind its main provisions, how it evolved from the first proposals to its initial introduction into Parliament, and the changes made during its passage through Parliament. I shall also give a brief indication of how the Family Courts established by the Act might be expected to operate. Historical Background to Former Divorce Legislation It is not my intention to make a detailed examination of English and Australian matrimonial legislative history.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Law Act 1975
    Family Law Act 1975 Act No. 53 of 1975 as amended This compilation was prepared on 21 December 2010 taking into account amendments up to Act No. 147 of 2010 The text of any of those amendments not in force on that date is appended in the Notes section The operation of amendments that have been incorporated may be affected by application provisions that are set out in the Notes section Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra Contents Part I—Preliminary 1 1 Short title [see Note 1].......................................................................1 2 Commencement [see Note 1].............................................................1 3 Repeal and saving..............................................................................1 4 Interpretation .....................................................................................2 4AA De facto relationships......................................................................27 4A Third party proceedings to set aside financial agreement................28 4B Third party proceedings to set aside Part VIIIAB financial agreement ........................................................................................30 5 Debtor subject to a personal insolvency agreement.........................32 6 Polygamous marriages.....................................................................32 7 Extension of Act to certain Territories ............................................32 7A Application of the Criminal Code ...................................................32
    [Show full text]
  • The Penthouse, the Porsche Or the Pension Superannuation and Divorce
    THE PENTHOUSE, THE PORSCHE OR THE PENSION SUPERANNUATION AND DIVORCE By Thomas Henn* & Jocelyne Boujos** Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria, nube!! Others should start wars, you happy Austria, get married.1 Or in the Australian context, others get married, unhappy Australians get divorced.23 Foreword This article deals with superannuation and divorce and the effect of the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Superannuation) Act 2001 (‘the Act’). The Act which was introduced by the Government in response to problems raised by a Senate * Thomas Henn (Ass Juris, MESC (Munich); LLB, MTax (WAust)), Senior Associate in Wilson & Atkinson and lecturer in taxation, Business School, Curtin University of Technology. ** Jocelyne Boujos (B Juris LLB) Senior Associate in Wilson & Atkinson responsible for the revenue law division of the firm. 1 It was a saying at the beginning of the 19th century, that European countries started wars to increase their power and the size of their countries, Austria under the Habsburgs on the other hand, simply married the ‘right’ connection. 2 In most European countries and America today a substantial tax break may be received, (income splitting with your partner) when you get married, but not in Australia. The only possibility for superannuation benefits is the legislation of superannuation splitting upon divorce. However, in order to prevent this, the Government introduced specific anti-avoidance provisions in s90MP and s90MQ of the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Superannuation) Act 2001. This legislation after numerous amendments was introduced by the Government in response to problems raised by the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation was passed by Parliament on 18 June 2001.
    [Show full text]
  • House of Representatives Explanatory
    1987 THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FAMILY LAW AMENDMENT BILL 1987 EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM (Circulated by authority of the Honourable Lionel Bowen M.P. Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney-General) 15466/87 Cat. No. 87 51308 I ii I I Printed by Authority by the Commonwealth Government Printer FAMILY LAW AMENDMENT BILL 1987 OUTLINE The Bill amends the Family Law Act 1975 - (a) to implement the references of powers from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania relating to — • the maintenance of children and the payment of expenses in relation to children or child bearing; and • the custody and guardianship of, and access to, children in those States and to apply the Act as amended to the Territories in which the Act presently applies; (b) in furtherance of the Governments proposals for child support, announced in the Parliament on 24 March 1987, to amend the child maintenance provisions of the Family Law Act to ensure that children receive a proper level of financial support from a reasonable and adequate share of the income, property and financial resources of their parents; (c) to require that an entitlement of the applicant for maintenance to an income tested pension or benefit is not taken into account in awarding spousal and child maintenance; and —2— (d) to make a number of other general amendments to enable the Act to operate more effectively. 2. The implementation of the reference of powers means that the provisions of the Act relating to the custody, guardianship and maintenance of children may now cover ex—nuptial children within the limits of the enlarged legislative power of the Parliament resulting from the referral of powers.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Law Act 1975 (Fla)
    Vol 6 The Western Australian Jurist 173 AVOIDING UNNECESSARY DIVORCE AND RESTORING JUSTICE IN MARITAL SEPARATIONS - REVIEW OF THE FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 (FLA) * + CHRISTOPHER BROHIER AND AUGUSTO ZIMMERMANN ABSTRACT The concept of no-fault divorce which became law in Australia in 1975 was part of a revolution in divorce law reform which swept through the western world in the late 1960s and 1970s. It was predicated on a notion that the law should aim to buttress marriage, but if the marriage was finished in fact, the law should “enable the empty legal shell to be destroyed with the maximum fairness, and minimum bitterness, distress and humiliation.” Property would be divided on a “once for all” basis, the children, though not physically divided, would be apportioned between a “custodial” parent and an “access” parent, and the parties could start afresh. However, the last 40 years have shown that the assumption that the parties could be autonomous after divorce was wrong. The development of family law has shown that while a marriage may be dissolved, parenthood is indissoluble. The idea of the “enduring family” has emerged. However, there has not been a corresponding re-evaluation of concept of no-fault divorce or of the basic grounds for divorce. It is time this was done. * LLB (Hons), Adelaide, GDLP, S.A.I.T. + LLB, LLM, PhD (Mon.); Professor of Law (adjunct), The University of Notre Dame Australia Sydney; Senior Lecturer in Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, Murdoch Law School. Vol 6 The Western Australian Jurist 174 I INTRODUCTION The
    [Show full text]
  • Review of the Family Law System
    REVIEW OF THE FAMILY LAW SYSTEM The Executive Director Australian Law Reform Commission GPO Box 3708 SYDNEY NSW 2001 Email: [email protected] Facsimile: +61 2 8238 6363 Dear Executive Director, This submission was prepared as part of the course 6000LAW Law Reform at Griffith Law School, Griffith University under the supervision of Ms Kim Weinert. This submission is a result of the joint effort of law students Emma Post, Sarra Davis, Upoma Chowdhury and Andrea Rimovetz. This submission has responded to questions 3 – 6, 9 – 12, 14 - 17, 19, 23, 24, 26, and 34 – 39. A summary of our recommendations and opinions are as follows: Access and Engagement In relation to access and engagement, the authors recommend: a) the Australian Government develop a nationwide Family Law Handbook which will contain all information relevant to the family law system and family support services to act as a roadmap for families who are engaging in the family law system and to promote a greater awareness of these resources and initiatives for families, including the AATSI and CALD communities; b) the Australian Government, in partnership with stakeholders, develop strategies to build collaboration between AATSI specific service providers and organisations and the mainstream family law system; c) The Australian Government develop an outreach program by mainstream services within the family law system to promote access and engagement with the family law system for people living in rural, regional, and remote areas; Inquiry Submission Post, Davis, Chowdhury and Rimovetz d) the Australian Government develops a strategy for improving access to more culturally appropriate services for AATSI people and better interpreter services in AATSI languages; e) the Australian Government develops a strategy for improving interpreter services for CALD communities with knowledge and understanding of family law; f) the Australian Government increase it’s federal funding to Legal Aid facilities.
    [Show full text]