Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable members for their contribution to the debate on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023, which represents an important set of reforms to the Family Law Act 1975 and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021.

Family law is an important and emotive issue. There are few of us in this chamber who have not been touched by the stresses of family breakdown, either directly through the experiences of those close to us or through hearing the stories of constituents in the electorates which we proudly serve. The Albanese government has committed to ensuring that the family law system is safer, more accessible and simpler to use and delivers justice and fairness for all Australian families. This is a significant task, but successive reviews of the family law system over the last decade have provided us with valuable guidance about where our priorities should lie. In particular, this bill addresses child focused recommendations from the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2019 report Family law for the future: an inquiry into the family law system and reflects the government response to the report of the Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System. The bill is also informed by the views of a wide range of stakeholders, and I thank those who provided submissions to the consultation process earlier this year.

The bill sends a strong message that the best interests of children should be the central concern of the family law system. It provides an opportunity to start addressing the unintended consequences of changes to the Family Law Act made in the mid-2000s. It provides an opportunity to break down barriers to understanding the law which can lead people to agreeing to unsafe outcomes because they think they have no choice, and it enables us to give effect to our commitment to value and listen to children's views in matters affecting them.

Specifically, the bill introduces a safer and simpler framework for making parenting orders by repealing the commonly misunderstood presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and associated requirements for the court to consider specific time arrangements, simplifying the list of factors that are considered in determining the best interests of children in parenting arrangements, and ensuring the court considers the right of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children to maintain their connection to their family, community, culture, country and language. The bill also simplifies provisions for the enforcement of parenting orders to make the consequences of noncompliance clear.

Another key element of this bill is the promotion of children's views in family law matters. This is achieved by requiring independent children's lawyers to meet with children and seek their views and removing the restriction on appointments of independent children's lawyers in matters under the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Other important elements of the bill include ensuring definitions of 'family' and 'relative' reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts of family and kinship; addressing systems abuse by restraining a party's ability to file harmful applications without first obtaining court approval; clarifying the law which prohibits the public communication of family law proceedings, so critical information can be shared and privacy protected; and creating regulation-making powers to enable government to set standards and requirements for family report writers.

The bill also brings forward the review of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 to assess the merged court structure and ensure it is working to provide families with a safe, accessible and efficient resolution of their family law disputes. The review will now take place in 2024.

These reforms complement the Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023, which will increase access to vital information from state and territory family violence and child protection systems during family law proceedings.

Throughout this debate we have heard from honourable members a broad consensus that family law issues are amongst the most troubling that their constituents experience. We've also heard some differing views on aspects of the legislation. That is unsurprising. Family law is emotive. There will always be differing views on what should be prioritised for reform. Fortunately, the government has had the benefit of the many inquiries and reports over the past decade that have recommended reform; in particular, the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2019 report Family law for the future: an inquiry into the family law system. Recommendations from that report have informed many of the reforms in this bill.

The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System in 2021 and the 2017 parliamentary inquiry into a better family law system to support and protect those affected by family violence also made recommendations to improve the family law system. The 2017 parliamentary inquiry was chaired by then Liberal member for Corangamite and now Liberal senator Sarah Henderson. Importantly, one of the recommendations of that parliamentary inquiry was to consider removing the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility.

An exposure draft of this bill was released in January. There were 273 published responses on the Attorney-General's Department website. The Family Law Council response includes some of their insights from the work the council has been undertaking under their terms of reference, including:

For instance, in roundtable discussions with family dispute resolution service providers in Canberra on 29 November 2022, it was the common view of the representatives in attendance that the presumption of the ESPR is misunderstood, even by parties with legal representation. Council was advised that the presumption can cause difficulties in negotiations "including that parties can be fixated on the presumption as an entitlement, even after receiving legal advice". It was further noted "that the best interests of the child are often overshadowed by perceived entitlements as a misunderstanding of the presumption."

Of course, this would not come as a surprise to many professionals who frequent the court, including judges. As the Family Law Council also say in their response:

Problems associated with the application of sections 61DA and 65DAA were identified by judges at an early stage following the implementation of the SP reforms. In a 2007 judgement, Carmody J cautioned about the legislature "trying to entice courts into the dangerous realm of finding a stock standard or 'off the shelf' response to unique and multi-faceted parenting problems".

The Law Council of Australia says about the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023:

The Law Council supports reform to Australia's family law system, including the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (Family Law Act), that may facilitate the resolution of parenting disputes and places the best interests, safety and wellbeing of any child to a family law proceeding at the centre of the decision-making process. It makes the observation that many of the proposed changes are intended not only to improve the substantive law but to make it easier to understand for both self-represented litigants and for separating couples who are negotiating their own parenting arrangements without litigation, and likely without the assistance of any family law professional.

Yesterday, Women's Legal Services Australia, representing 13 women's legal services, including two First Nations services, and National Legal Aid, representing the eight state and territory legal aid commissions, released a joint statement in support of the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023. The chair of National Legal Aid, Louise Glanville, says in that statement:

From our work, we see how important it is to consider the best interests of children and the safety of victim-survivors. The changes proposed in the Family Law Amendment Bill appropriately put the best interests of children at the heart of care arrangements for families post separation.

The chair of Women's Legal Services Australia, Elena Rosenman, says:

These changes are long overdue and will significantly improve the family law system's ability to ensure the safety of victim-survivors and children.

The government agrees that these reforms are long overdue.

In conclusion, the needs of every child are unique, and every family's circumstances are unique. We must find a path which meets their needs as effectively and safely as possible. Making the law clearer and more accessible is a critical component of that process. I encourage this House to support this bill and to contribute to securing better outcomes for children through these important legislative reforms. I look forward to these reforms becoming law so that the best interests of children are again the essential focus of the family law system.

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