Issues Please Indicate Which Issues from the Committee's Terms of Reference Are Relevant to Your Submission A
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Issues Please indicate which issues from the committee's Terms of Reference are relevant to your submission a. ongoing issues and further improvements relating to the interaction and information sharing between the family law system and state and territory child protection systems, and family and domestic violence jurisdictions, including: ☐ Yes i. the process, and evidential and legal standards and onuses of proof, in relation to the ☐ No granting of domestic violence orders and apprehended violence orders, and ii. the visibility of, and consideration given to, domestic violence orders and apprehended violence orders in family law proceedings; b. the appropriateness of family court powers to ensure parties in family law proceedings provide ☐ Yes truthful and complete evidence, and the ability of the court to make orders for non-compliance ☐ No and the efficacy of the enforcement of such orders; c. beyond the proposed merger of the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court any other reform ☒ Yes that may be needed to the family law and the current structure of the Family Court and the Federal ☐ No Circuit Court; d. the financial costs to families of family law proceedings, and options to reduce the financial impact, ☒ Yes with particular focus on those instances where legal fees incurred by parties are disproportionate ☐ No to the total property pool in dispute or are disproportionate to the objective level of complexity of parenting issues, and with consideration being given amongst other things to banning ‘disappointment fees’, and: i. capping total fees by reference to the total pool of assets in dispute, or any other regulatory option to prevent disproportionate legal fees being charged in family law matters, and ii. any mechanisms to improve the timely, efficient and effective resolution of property disputes in family law proceedings; e. the effectiveness of the delivery of family law support services and family dispute resolution ☐ Yes processes; ☐ No f. the impacts of family law proceedings on the health, safety and wellbeing of children and families ☐ Yes involved in those proceedings; ☐ No ☐ Yes g. any issues arising for grandparent carers in family law matters and family law court proceedings; ☐ No h. any further avenues to improve the performance and monitoring of professionals involved in ☒ Yes family law proceedings and the resolution of disputes, including agencies, family law practitioners, ☐ No family law experts and report writers, the staff and judicial officers of the courts, and family dispute resolution practitioners; ☐ Yes i. any improvements to the interaction between the family law system and the child support system; ☐ No j. the potential usage of pre-nuptial agreements and their enforceability to minimise future property ☐ Yes disputes; and ☐ No ☒ Yes k. any related matters ☐ No Your submission Please provide a brief summary of your experience and any relevant issues. Your submission should respond to one or more of the committee's Terms of Reference. Please Note that this Submission will be sent electronically as well as in paper form. 2 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 3 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 4 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 5 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 6 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 7 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 8 This page has been accepted by the committee as confidential 9 This section has been accepted by the committee as confidential MURPHY’S SECTION 121 OF THE FAMILY COURT. Murphy’s design of the secrecy provisions for the family court overstep reasonable concepts of confidentiality and are inherently Stalinist and overly controlling in nature. The mythology that Section 121 is to “protect parties to the court” is an insult to the intelligence of Australians. The family court has no interest in protecting parties who have the misfortune to appear before it. Decades of suicides and murder/suicides and the cover up and denial of them are the real test of this invidious institution’s “concern”. Section 121 has but one function, to prohibit criticism of the court and to protect its operations, to assist its resistance to reform and to ensure that those who oppose it have no voice and are subject to harsh penalties including incarceration for daring to speak out. The family court refuses to acknowledge its vicarious role in these events, it refuses to hear criticism and it refuses to amend it ways. It proceeds unchecked. Indeed, numerous inquiries had omitted the suicide of men and fathers as a term of reference for inquiry, this current JSC Inquiry is no exception. Below is the detail of Section 121 in all its Rotten Glory. This is an affront to anyone with a sense of personal freedom, free speech and concerns regarding State power over the Citizens. Murphy was no freedom fighter, he was a tyrant. Family Law Act 1975. Part XV Miscellaneous Section 121 121 Restriction on publication of court proceedings (1) A person who publishes in a newspaper or periodical publication, by radio broadcast or television or by other electronic means, or otherwise disseminates to the public or to a section of the public by any means, any account of any proceedings, or of any part of any proceedings, under this Act that identifies: (a) a party to the proceedings; (b) a person who is related to, or associated with, a party to the proceedings or is, or is alleged to be, in any other way concerned in the matter to which the proceedings relate; or (c) a witness in the proceedings; is guilty of an offence punishable, upon conviction by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year. (2) A person who, except as permitted by the applicable Rules of Court, publishes in a newspaper or periodical publication, by radio broadcast or television or by other electronic means, or otherwise disseminates to the public or to a section of the public by any 10 means (otherwise than by the display of a notice in the premises of the court), a list of proceedings under this Act, identified by reference to the names of the parties to the proceedings, that are to be dealt with by a court is guilty of an offence punishable, upon conviction by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year. (3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), an account of proceedings, or of any part of proceedings, referred to in that subsection shall be taken to identify a person if: ( NOTE ESPECIALLY THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE ) (a) it contains any particulars of: (i) the name, title, pseudonym or alias of the person; (ii) the address of any premises at which the person resides or works, or the locality in which any such premises are situated; (iii) the physical description or the style of dress of the person; (iv) any employment or occupation engaged in, profession practised or calling pursued, by the person or any official or honorary position held by the person; (v) the relationship of the person to identified relatives of the person or the association of the person with identified friends or identified business, official or professional acquaintances of the person; (vi) the recreational interests, or the political, philosophical or religious beliefs or interests, of the person; or (vii) any real or personal property in which the person has an interest or with which the person is otherwise associated; being particulars that are sufficient to identify that person to a member of the public, or to a member of the section of the public to which the account is disseminated, as the case requires; (b) in the case of a written or televised account or an account by other electronic means—it is accompanied by a picture of the person; or (c) in the case of a broadcast or televised account or an account by other electronic means—it is spoken in whole or in part by the person and the person’s voice is sufficient to identify that person to a member of the public, or to a member of the section of the public to which the account is disseminated, as the case requires. (4) A reference in subsection (1) or (2) to proceedings shall be construed as including a reference to proceedings commenced before the commencement of section 72 of the Family Law Amendment Act 1983. 11 (5) An offence against this section is an indictable offence. (8) Proceedings for an offence against this section shall not be commenced except by, or with the written consent of, the Director of Public Prosecutions. (9) The preceding provisions of this section do not apply to or in relation to: (a) the communication, to persons concerned in proceedings in any court, of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other document for use in connection with those proceedings; or (b) the communication of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other document to: (i) a body that is responsible for disciplining members of the legal profession in a State or Territory; or (ii) persons concerned in disciplinary proceedings against a member of the legal profession of a State or Territory, being proceedings before a body that is responsible for disciplining members of the legal profession in that State or Territory; or (c) the communication, to a body that grants assistance by way of legal aid, of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other document for the purpose of facilitating the making of a decision as to whether assistance by way of legal aid should be granted, continued or provided in a particular case; or (d)