Meeting Minutes for February 2016 in Sydney

FAMILY LAW COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES 18-19 February 2016

Location: Family Law Courts, 97-99 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW

Present Members: (Chair) Professor Helen Rhoades - University of Melbourne – VIC Judge Kevin Lapthorn – Federal Circuit Court – QLD Justice Robert Benjamin AM – Family Court of Australia – TAS Ms Jennie Hannan – MacKillop Family Services & HRS Consulting – WA Dr Rae Kaspiew – Australian Institute of Family Studies – VIC Ms Colleen Wall – Nguin Warrup (Black Drum) Ltd – QLD Ms Kylie Beckhouse – Legal Aid NSW – NSW Mr Jeremy Culshaw – Culshaw Miller Lawyers – WA

Observers: Principal Registrar Adele Byrne – Federal Circuit Court – VIC Magistrate David Monaghan – Family Court of Western Australia – WA Registrar Phillip Cameron – Family Court of Australia – NSW Professor Lawrie Moloney – Australian Institute of Family Studies – VIC Dr Rachel Carson – Australian Institute of Family Studies – VIC Ms Jackie Brady – Family & Relationship Services Australia – ACT Dr Julie MacKenzie – Australian Law Reform Commission – NSW Ms Tamsyn Harvey – Attorney-General’s Department – ACT Ms Sue Harris – Attorney-General’s Department – ACT

Researchers: Ms Nareeda Lewers – University of Melbourne – VIC Ms Jo O’Donohue - University of Melbourne – VIC

Secretariat: Mrs Kim Howatson – Attorney-General’s Department – ACT Summary of Actions Arising Status by following meeting

(i) Secretariat to mark October 2015 meeting minutes as final and arrange for Completed the minutes to be uploaded onto Council’s webpage.

The following is a summary of items discussed: Welcome and Apologies 1. Chair of Council, Professor Helen Rhoades, opened the meeting in Sydney and acknowledged the Gadigal people as the traditional owners of the land where the meeting was being held. 2. Professor Rhoades welcomed Dr Rachel Carson as the ongoing representative for the observer agency, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS). She also farewelled Professor Lawrie Moloney, the outgoing representative from AIFS, who advised of his imminent retirement. The significant contributions Professor Moloney had made as an observer to the Council for many years was sincerely acknowledged. 3. Professor Rhoades welcomed back Registrar Phillip Cameron as the observer representative for the Family Court of Australia on this occasion, following an apology received from Principal Registrar, Angela Filippello. She also welcomed Ms Sue Harris as an observer for the Attorney-General's Department. 4. Professor Rhoades gave apologies for representatives from observer agencies: Ms Sheree Tierney (Department of Human Services), Ms Pam Hemphill (Families SA - Department for Education & Child Development) and Mr Geoff Sinclair (Family Law Section – Law Council of Australia) who were unable to attend this meeting Declarations of Conflicts of Interest 5. There were no declarations of conflicts of interest for this meeting. Minutes of previous meeting 6. Council accepted the minutes of the meeting held in October 2015 without any changes and agreed for the minutes to be uploaded to the webpage. No action items remained outstanding from the October meeting. ACTION: (i): Secretariat to mark October 2015 meeting minutes as final and arrange for the minutes to be uploaded onto Council’s webpage. General Business 7. Council acknowledged the continued positive feedback it had received in relation to its interim report to the Attorney-General on Families with Complex Needs, delivered on 30 June 2015. 8. Professor Rhoades advised meeting participants that Researcher, Ms Nareeda Lewers, was finishing her work with Council prior to the finalisation of the report. Professor Rhoades thanked Ms Lewers for her valuable contributions to Council’s work on its reference and wished her well in her new endeavour. 9. There was one item of correspondence requiring discussion at this meeting. However, as the topic was relevant to Council’s terms of reference, the discussion was held in that context and helped to form Council’s views on the reference. Discussion on Council’s terms of reference 10. Council had lengthy discussions to progress its report to the Attorney-General on terms of reference 3, 4 and 5. The report is due by 30 June 2016. Updates from Observers and Attorney-General’s Department 11. The representatives from each of the attending observer agencies provided brief updates on current issues of significance to the Family Law Council. The topics covered demonstrated the amount of work each agency is undertaking in the area of family law. Meeting close 12. Professor Rhoades thanked participants and closed the meeting. The next meeting is scheduled to be held in Canberra on 16-17 June 2016.