Patrick Dodson (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Reconciliation) | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Family Law (Self-Assessment) Bill brought by the Pauline Hanson One Nation. Labor agrees that reforms to the family law system are needed. However, the reforms proposed in this bill are confusing, inconsistent with existing family law policy objectives—including acting in the best interests of children—and generally unworkable. Accordingly, Labor will be opposing this bill.

The bill proposes a range of measures to reform the family law system in relation to the resolution of financial disputes and parenting disputes, primarily through the use of an online self-assessment portal for the resolution of disputes. Our key concerns with the bill include the fact that the bill has been drafted without consideration of the extensive review of the family law system and recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission. I note that the final report of that comprehensive inquiry was tabled on 9 April this year yet the explanatory memorandum of this bill refers to the Australian Law Reform Commission being 'due to report on 31 March 2019', indicating that the bill and its explanatory memorandum were completed without any reference to that report and the many recommendations it has made.

The explanatory memorandum makes numerous statements which suggest that this bill is being based on foundations at odds with the best interests of children in family law disputes. For example, the explanatory memorandum includes an assertion that its provisions will force a separating couple to 'act rationally', and a statement that this bill 'will serve utilitarian justice'—something the former Soviet Union justice system emphasised. An early draft of this bill was apparently provided to the Law Council of Australia. The Law Council raised a number of concerns, including constitutional concerns about the draft. These concerns are dismissed in the explanatory memorandum as being the result of arguments 'about the vibe of the Constitution', allegedly based on the Law Council's self-interest as a body representing Australian lawyers. The bill proposes differential treatment based on gender stereotypes, while the explanatory memorandum asserts that 'the Orwellian slogans about the best interests of children remain vacuous and provide no legal guidance, just more vitriol'.

The provisions in this bill in relation to the resolution of financial disputes contain a range of unworkable and draconian provisions, including, for example, a penalty of up to 100 penalty units—that's $21,000—for failing to provide an email address within 30 days under section 7. Under subsection 12A(1)—a provision titled 'Those who don't bother to try'—those who don't comply with obligations under the portal system established by this bill 'must pay a sum not less than the net equal equity value of the couple's family home to their spouse by the 90th day, together with a sum of $50,000.'

The provisions in relation to the resolution of parenting disputes also contain a range of unworkable or retrograde provisions. For example, the stated policy objective of these provisions in subsection 16(1) do not mention the best interests of the child. Another example is in subsection 17(2)(a) which provides that a residential parent must comply with 'their overarching obligation which is to enable shared parenting time in a prompt manner'.

However, I say again that Labor acknowledges that there are significant problems with the current family law system which have led to unacceptable delays for vulnerable families and children. One matter raised in the explanatory memorandum to this bill that we in Labor agree with is that one of the reasons the family law system is not serving the interests of Australians is that the courts and legal aid are drastically underfunded. This underfunding is the result of ongoing neglect of Family Court and of legal assistance services over six years of the Liberal government. In fact, the family law courts around Australia are in crisis. Approximately 90 per cent of Federal Circuit Court work relates to family law. In all registries of the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court families are experiencing longer and longer delays before their disputes are determined. At present, delays from court filing to the commencement of a trial can be as high as 36 months in both the Family Court and the Family Circuit Court of Australia. To some extent these delays have been further exacerbated by the mismanagement of court resources, with retired judges not always being replaced in a timely manner by this Liberal government.

In contrast to the Morrison government, Labor believes that for Australia to remain a fair and democratic nation justice must be accessible to all, rather than only those who can afford to hire lawyers. Ensuring that all Australians are able to have their legal rights upheld is especially important to families and children under threat of violence, to the victims of financial fraud and other crimes perpetrated against them by banks and other large companies, to Indigenous Australians, to communities, to the sick, the elderly and rural Australians, who don't have easy access to lawyers and to the courts, and to our new arrivals and those accused of serious crime. Providing access to justice for all Australians has been a Labor Party priority for over a generation, since the Whitlam government established legal aid.

Since that time Labor has championed and strengthened the legal aid sector, which now includes three additional services in addition to the legal aid commissions. Firstly, over 120 community legal centres receive funding from the Commonwealth and provide vital legal services to Australians in need across areas including domestic violence, family advice, workplace abuse and minor criminal offences. Secondly, a network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services, ATSILS, provides legal advice, representation, community legal education and advocacy to Aboriginal Australians and communities. Thirdly, there are 14 family violence prevention legal services, which provide a range of services to Indigenous women and families, in particular to those suffering from domestic violence.

When last in government, Labor actively supported the four legal services that make up the legal assistance sector. This included further vital funding boosts to community legal centres, the environmental defenders offices, the legal aid commissions and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service. In opposition, Labor has successfully fought against the vicious cuts to community legal centres that the Liberal government sought to impose in their last term, forcing the Liberals into a humiliating backdown and reversal of position. Labor will continue to champion improved legal assistance funding and continue to press for increased funding to our Family Court system, so that both can function as was intended when they were first established by the Whitlam government.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that things have to change in the Family Court system, both in terms of resourcing and the law itself. Labor's priority is making sure that changes to the family law system are done right. This bill does not do that. Reform of the family law system should be based on evidence and should be developed in consultation with input from the many stakeholder groups in the family law system. The proposed reforms in this confusing and poorly drafted bill clearly fail both of these tests. Labor will be opposing this bill.