Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sadly, about four in five cases initiated in the Federal Circuit and Family Court are in relation to children involved in domestic and family violence, with about two-thirds of them involving some very egregious child abuse situations where kids are at terrible risk. These are very contentious forms of litigation. They put children and families under tremendous pressure. Often an independent children's lawyer is appointed, and it's usually the case in circumstances where this occurs that subpoenas are issued to find out what has happened—whether the children have been physically or sexually abused. Those subpoenas are directed to what I'll call the departments of child safety in the various states and territories. We've got about 22 co-located state and territory child protection and policing officials embedded in selected family law jurisdictions and registries around the country.

There are two ways in which it's done, but it's usually done by a subpoena. It's really a party or litigant initiated process. Orders are made under section 69ZW of the Family Law Act. That section of the act shows the extent to which it is focused on notifications and investigations of child abuse and family violence. I'll read the section:

(1) The court may make an order in child-related proceedings requiring a prescribed State or Territory agency to provide the court with the documents or information specified in the order.

(2) The documents or information specified … must be documents recording, or information about, one or more of these:

(a) any notifications to the agency of suspected abuse of a child to whom the proceedings relate or of suspected family violence affecting the child;

(b) any assessments by the agency of investigations into a notification of that kind or the findings or outcomes of those investigations;

(c) any reports commissioned by the agency in the course of investigating a notification.

That is probably what we used to call a care and control order, an order dealing with the care and safety of a child. Usually, these are quite young children or pre-teenage children, and it usually involves a case where their wishes, and what's happened to them, are only detected in the post-separation circumstance. It often comes to light during the course of those proceedings. My observation has been that subpoenas are issued on multiple occasions in the course of proceedings that are included in what is colloquially called, in Queensland and elsewhere, the Magellan List. As a result of that, it's really a litigant initiated process. The absence of the sharing of information restricts knowledge of the presiding officer in the court about what's going on and prevents the disclosure of information that would be beneficial to an independent children's lawyer and to the parties in the litigation as well as their respective lawyers.

This bill would repeal section 69ZW of the act and insert a new subdivision DA of division 8 of part VII of the act, which establishes a more comprehensive court initiated—less litigant initiated—process for sharing information that's crucial. It involves two kinds of information-sharing orders and would increase the court's capacity to effectively and efficiently target requests for information at any stage of the proceedings. This is very important, because courts need to be aware of what's going on in the course of any proceedings in relation to children. Often, proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court or Family Court cease if the child is the subject of state based litigation, with care and protection or care and control type orders made.

The range of orders are varied under the new division, and they deal with actual as well as potential family violence, child abuse and neglect. This is a very important initiative to undertake. It comes about because of the National Strategic Framework for Information Sharing Between the Family Law and Family Violence and Child Protection Systems, known colloquially as the national framework, which was endorsed by Attorneys-General back in November 2021.

This is an important piece of legislation. As someone who practised in this jurisdiction for well over 20 years, I wish this legislation had been done when I was in private practice. I can assure you, it would be beneficial to the courts, the presiding officers and the litigants as well as the lawyers. I think anything that's focused on the care, welfare and protection of children—the current law is being amended, by the way, by the previous bill to focus on child safety—is absolutely crucial. Even though it is the case that children have a right to know and be cared for by both parents, regardless of their parents' marital status or situation, in terms of separation or cohabitation, it's absolutely critical that children be protected from abuse, neglect and family violence.

This legislation might sound esoteric and legalistic but it will have a very discernible, practical impact to help the welfare and best interests of children. That's what we should be doing in this parliament. I commend the Attorney-General for bringing this legislation to the chamber. It is small. It is not a big piece of legislation that's going through. But it will appreciably improve our family law system and give a full range of risk-averse information held by state and territory child protection agencies of the court in the federal sphere. I think it's really good legislation and I'm pleased to support it.

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

The government thanks all parliamentary members for their contributions to the debate on the Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023. This bill is a significant step towards ensuring that children and families do not fall between the gaps of the federal family law system and the state and territory policing and child protection systems. The bill improves the family law system's ability to protect children and victim-survivors by ensuring all information is available to identify, assess and respond to family violence, child abuse and neglect risk. In doing so, the bill progresses the government's commitment to end gender based violence in one generation and complements the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 by putting the best interests of children at the centre of a simpler and safer family law system.

This bill will enhance the framework for information sharing from state and territory child protection, police and firearms agencies to the family law courts, giving effect to key aspects of the Operationalising the National Strategic Framework for Information Sharing Between the Family Law and Family Violence and Child Protection Systems, the national framework. In doing so, this bill will enshrine a new information-sharing regime within the Family Law Act 1975 for the comprehensive sharing of family safety information with appropriate protections and safeguards.

Attorneys-general from all states and territories have endorsed the national framework and its objective of providing a streamlined process for information sharing across systems. This commitment recognises the reality that families and children involved in family law processes are often engaged across multiple systems—federal, state and territory. It is therefore critical the decision-makers across these systems, especially within the family law system, have information available to holistically understand family violence, child abuse and neglect risk affecting children, families and individuals.

In broadening the scope of information able to be shared between these systems, this bill is alive to the need of ensuring that sensitive and personal information is protected. This bill includes a series of exemptions to the sharing of certain information and will be further supported by safeguards to be prescribed in amendments to the Family Law Regulations 1984. Together these measures with ensure that critical family safety information is used, accessed, shared and stored in a responsible, safe and secure manner.

The government further acknowledges that any framework for family safety information sharing must be fit for purpose. A statutory review provision has therefore been included in this bill to provide for an evaluation of the design, implementation and operation of these amendments 12 months after their commencement. There will also be a six-month delay in commencement of the provisions proposed in this bill. This will allow the family law courts and states and territories to implement the new framework, including rolling out training and guidance material, to ensure consistency in delivery across Australia. The government also looks forward to working with Western Australia to mirror amendments to their Family Court Act 1997, delivering a truly national information-sharing framework.

In conclusion, the measures in this bill will ensure that no child, family or individual experiencing family violence, abuse or neglect falls between the gaps of the federal family law system and the state and territory child protection and family violence systems and ensure the family law courts can make decisions in the best interests of children, informed by a comprehensive understanding of family safety risk. Keeping children and families safe is at the heart of the family law system. This bill ensures the government and the family law system are delivering on this crucial responsibility.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.