InBrief

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Bill 2018 and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2018 were introduced into Parliament yesterday, 23 August 2018, to give effect to the Government’s proposed restructure of Australia’s family law system.

The Senate referred these bills to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for report due 15 April 2019 to enable the Parliament to carefully examine and consider the detail of this proposed reform with the benefit of having received the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review of the family law system in March 2019 and with the opportunity to engage in meaningful consultation with the Australian community including the legal profession.

The Law Council of Australia yesterday warned that “The proposed merging of the Federal Circuit Court and the Family Court is unlikely to alleviate the crisis in the family law court system and may place significant extra pressure on already overburdened Federal Circuit Court Judges”. The Law Council’s statement is available here.

Last week the New South Wales Bar Association supported a call by the Australian Bar Association for careful parliamentary scrutiny of any legislation to restructure Australia’s family law system.

The New South Wales Bar Association welcomes the bills’ referral to Committee The Association has consistently said that informed discussion and consultation about the future of the Family Court is critical to promote the administration of justice and secure the best outcomes for Australian families and children in need of family law assistance.