Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great privilege to speak on this report by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs. It would be fair to say that the inquiry process, for many members, was a challenging one. For me as somebody who hasn't had direct experience of the subject matter of the inquiry—family violence and the family law system—parts of it were eye opening, and I think we need to acknowledge that. Some other members, including the previous speaker, the member for Lindsay, have perhaps had closer experience of the subject matter than I have. Nonetheless, it was a good opportunity to cover many of these issues as part of a package of issues that the government is dealing with in the space of family law.

I'd like to start by commending the chair for her leadership and all the other committee members for their participation in the inquiry, and I was privileged to be able to be part of this process of trying to bring the human stories and lived experience of many Australians in the family law system to the fore, to be codified for the record and to be part of a pathway of positive change to improve the system for Australians needing to deal with family law—for victims of domestic and family violence and, in particular, for children. The committee is trying to ensure their best interests are put at the heart of any system. That is the basis on which the report has been put forward. It is also the basis on which the report has been written and the recommendations have been designed.

We also want to thank, very strongly, those who made submissions, both written and oral, throughout the inquiry. They have been critical in making sure that this report and the recommendations have integrity and making sure those voices are heard, because human stories sit at the heart of the problems that are faced by people in the Family Court. Human stories anchor this report as examples of the experiences we are seeking to address so we can improve the system for the better.

I don't want to labour in too much detail the different recommendations but simply acknowledge that there have been a number of key themes which have resonated with me throughout the inquiry. These include the section outlined in the committee's report that relates to parenting orders being heavily influenced by evidence provided in family reports and prepared by family consultants. It is extremely concerning, as the chair noted, that families are often paying thousands of dollars for these reports which may be written by practitioners who have no formal training in or understanding of family violence or its impact on children. It's critical that the quality and reliability of family reports improve. Something as simple as codification of people's stories to improve the system is clearly at the heart of fixing the system. It shows you how much opportunity there is, through simple procedural improvements, to dramatically improve the current situation faced by many people who experience the family law system.

Recommendation 5 follows on from that. It's about the need for the greater use of mediation or alternative dispute resolution by the Family Court during proceedings to encourage earlier resolution of matters. It came from concerns directly as a consequence of issues around family violence, to make sure that there are alternative avenues to deal with problems so that people do not get caught up in the legalese of the family law system. That means they can focus much more on human outcomes, particularly in removing environments which lead to conflict and focusing on how we can get to a point of resolution in the best interests of families and children. I'm particularly taken by recommendation 11, which says:

The Committee recommends that the Attorney-General works with state and territory counterparts through the Council of Australian Governments to establish a trial in one or more specialist state or territory family violence courts (including reaching agreement in relation to resources, education and court infrastructure) enabling family law issues in family violence cases to be determined by the one court, including expedited pathways for breach and enforcement proceedings. One of the trial courts should ideally be located in an area of high Indigenous population.

Central to a lot of the things we heard throughout this inquiry were the issues that people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face. In fact, the system does not properly accommodate or recognise diversity and the lived experiences of many people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. That needs to be better recognised and accommodated within the court system if it's to achieve the best interests of the parties involved, and, again, particularly children. That is especially so in the case of the Indigenous population, who, we heard time and time again, have not been fully recognised in respect of how the family law system works. That is something we can do and that we can lead successfully to improve outcomes for every Australian.

Another recommendation that I thought was particularly prescient follow on directly from that, particularly recommendation 24, which also deals with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues. Looking at past reports, it said:

The Committee recommends that, as a matter of urgency, the Australian Government implements the Family Law Council recommendations from both the 2012 Improving the family law system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients report, and the 2016 Families with complex needs and the intersection of the family law and child protection systems – Final Report, as they relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, including those recommendations addressing—

exactly going to those issues—

In the same context, many similar issues come as a direct consequence of CALD families and the situations that they face.

That particularly leads to a subject that perhaps wasn't given the full attention of this inquiry, not because it wasn't important but because it could have its own inquiry. I think it is very important to address and I would recommend that the committee considers for future discussion the issue of dowry demands. It was covered in section 7 of the report, dealing particularly with the issue of dowries and how they can be used as a form of bride pricing and how they are used as a form of psychological, financial and emotional violence which can undermine the independence of women. They are common in some subcultures of people, particularly from new migrant families. This subject was covered by the inquiry, but it probably justifies further extrapolation. I know there's some work being done by the Victorian government in this space. The use of bride prices or dowries as a way of controlling women is completely unacceptable in our country, and I'm sure you share that sentiment, Deputy Speaker Buchholz. Manjula O'Connor, a constituent of the great electorate of Goldstein, regularly raises with me some of the issues around dowry extortion in migrant communities. She is concerned particularly, that some new arrivals to this country haven't had the opportunity to understand, or haven't had the lived experience to understand, that this practice is not acceptable in our country. There needs to be further work done to make sure that women are not finding a situation where they experience this type of emotional violence and physical violence as a consequence of it but are able to live full and independent lives. Part of the family law system has to recognise where this may be a factor in relationship breakdowns, and that's part of making sure that people can live that full independence.

I recommend the report to the parliament. I congratulate the chair and everybody who participated in it, and I will take the opportunity to acknowledge and congratulate the new chair of the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee, Julia Banks, on her illustrious elevation after the departure of our previous chair, and wish the committee its best work and deliberations into the future.

Debate adjourned.

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