Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Chair of Australia's Family Law System Joint Select Committee, I present the committee's third interim report and final report, together with the accompanying documents. I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I have risen today as I have many times—in fact, nearly 90 times since I was elected into this place—but I think one of the most memorable and possibly the most impactful of those was when I rose here in this Senate on behalf of the government in September 2019 to move to create the Australia's Family Law System Joint Select Committee here in the Senate. I'd been a senator for just over two months when I did that. It's been other two years since I moved that motion to establish this select committee. Now, two years on, we have finally finished the work of that committee. I make these points simply to highlight the importance of this inquiry as a senator. Over the course of this inquiry, the committee held 13 public hearings, 13 in camera hearings and received over 1,700 submissions. The committee has heard from many people who have direct experience of the family law system, advocacy groups and organisations. We heard from academics, legal professionals and, on behalf of the community, I thank everyone who made contributions ontributions were extremely heartfelt, personal and, in many cases, very difficult for them to make. I acknowledge, sincerely, the impact of each of those contributions and I thank those who made the brave decision to speak and to give a submission. Many were given in camera, because of the nature of them, but each and every one of them was important.

The report presented today follows on from the committee's first interim report, presented in October 2020, and second interim report on improvements in the family law proceedings presented in March 2021. The first interim report, previously tabled, canvassed the broad range of issues that arose in evidence provided to the committee, touching on matters like perceptions of bias within the system, the role of family consultants and expert witnesses, whether the adversarial nature of the family law courts could be improved—that's a big issue we continue to hear about—the misuse of systems and processes, professional misconduct and perceived or apparent systemic issues. We also heard about the cost of legal fees encountered in the legal and family law system, delays encountered in the Family Court and issues in family violence and the family law system.

The second interim report detailed the committee's conclusions and recommendations in relation to the family law system. This included proposed and contemporary reforms as well as suggesting extra measures that the committee considered were needed to better support Australian families using the family law system. The 29 recommendations contained within the report place emphasis on reducing cost and delays experienced by those interacting with the court as well as exploring how the enforceability of orders could be improved. Also explored were options to refine the family violence framework, amending the Family Law Act, alternative dispute resolution and several other issues.

I'm pleased to inform the Senate that the Australian government has already moved ahead on a number of these recommendations. For example, the government has allocated an additional $100 million in funding, over the next four years, to strengthen the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The committee heard from the court about how that will be implemented. It was certainly received with gratitude and they're already seeing the impact of that, which is good. In the second interim report, it was noted that there had not been enough time to consider issues related to child support. This issue was raised many times in the submission process and led to an agreement of the committee—and, ultimately, the Senate—to extend the deadline of the final report, which I'm proud to table today.

The third interim report, which I'm also tabling today, deals in majority with the systemic problems relating to children in the family law and child support systems and offers 19 new recommendations. One of these is that the government convene a ministerial task force and expert working group, with a broad range of representatives, to examine the child support formula. Unfortunately, the committee was not equipped to review this issue in the appropriate and required detail that would be necessary for a subject as important as this. A number of submissions were received. It does need further assessment, and that's why this recommendation is within the report.

The committee strongly believes that ongoing community engagement is a vital feature of government decision-making and policy development. The committee has recommended that regular meetings of the Child Support National Stakeholder Engagement Group should, therefore, be reconvened. The final report notes government actions and Family Court initiatives since March 2021 and makes further recommendations, supplementary to those made in the second and third interim reports. The committee reiterates its considered opinion that recommendations relating to the proportionality of cost and the use of arbitration are significant reforms that should be adopted.

Private meetings between the committee and the Chief Justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Western Australia, were held in order to discuss the proceedings and decisions of the respective courts and the committee. These meetings provided a solid foundation for further inquiries and informed the deliberations and recommendations contained within the report.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Chief Justice Alstergren and Deputy Chief Justice McClelland for their assistance to the committee during this inquiry. The committee and I thank all those who stepped up and gave evidence before the committee. It was not an easy thing to do, and Senator Waters will be able to attest to that. We had quite significant moments in that committee, where people were quite moved by the evidence they were giving, and I really do thank them for that. It was a brave thing for many of them to do. Many of them are living in the middle of it, dealing with it, while for some of them it was reliving some of the worst times of their lives. The courage required touched me and no doubt every member of the committee. I thank those that stepped up, very much indeed.

Also deserving thanks are the committee secretariat, who do a whole body of work behind the scenes. The workload and the difficult nature of the subject matter for this committee was immense. I acknowledge and thank them very much indeed. We also met with many legal professionals, community groups and academics, and I thank them also. Throughout the inquiry the committee sought to understand the ongoing deficiencies and issues present in the Australian family law and child support systems. The committee sought to find solutions that are practical, workable and equitable and that will make an ongoing improvement to the lives of the many men, women, children and extended family that use this system.

Finally, I acknowledge all members of the committee, including the member for Menzies, Mr Andrews, as chair; the deputy chair, Senator Hanson; and all the other colleagues involved in that committee. We approached it in a very collegiate way. We worked exceptionally well together. Senator Rice, who is in the chamber now, was part of that, and I thank her for the commitment, which we all had, to making sure that we were able to canvas the many and difficult issues that relate to the family law system. On that, I table these reports. They conclude the work of the committee. I commend both the final reports and the interim ones that have been put in. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.