Effective from 6 May 2024, major amendments were made to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), including to change how decisions about children are made and what factors the Court needs to consider in deciding what arrangements are in a child’s best interests.
Another Bill is currently before the Senate, which will introduce further major changes to family law, being the Family Law Amendment Bill 2024 (Cth). The amendments are to address recommendations from parliamentary inquiries in 2017, 2019 and 2021, now focusing on financial matters.
The proposed amendments include:
- Expanding on what may constitute “economic or financial abuse” within the definition of family violence;
- Adding “the effect of any family violence” to the list of factors that the Court takes into account when deciding an application for property settlement or spousal maintenance;
- Adding considerations about “the effect of any material wastage” and how any liabilities were incurred to the list of relevant factors in a property settlement;
- Adding provisions setting out what orders the Court can make about companion animals and the relevant considerations;
- Re-structuring the provisions about property settlement, such that when considering the relevant current and future circumstances, it will no longer be necessary to refer back to another provision relating to spousal maintenance;
- Extending the less-adversarial principles and relaxed rules of evidence that already apply in child-related proceedings so they also apply in proceedings that are partly financial, where the parties consent or the Court orders this anyway;
- Elevating the duty of disclosure to be set out in the Act rather than in the Rules;
- Regulating Children’s Contact Services by requiring accreditation and introducing penalties for accreditation non-compliance;
- Clarifying the type of information that can be obtained through Commonwealth Information Orders; and
- Adding safeguards against the misuse of sensitive communications made in the course of professional confidential relationships.
Some of these changes have the effect of setting out considerations that the Court has already taken into account in some cases. However, there would now be a clear legislative basis for doing so.
As stated in the Explanatory Memoranda: “This Bill will … codify aspects of the common law, and will provide greater clarity on the face of the law to support users, including vulnerable users, of the Family Law Act”.
The Explanatory Memoranda also expresses that the amendments regarding family violence “send a strong message to the community that property settlement outcomes should recognise the effect of family violence on individuals, and on the wealth and welfare of the family, where this is relevant”.
It remains to be seen how these amendments, if passed, will affect the practice of family law and court determinations. However, it seems likely that issues of family violence will be ventilated more in financial cases.
In Western Australia, we are still waiting for the earlier Commonwealth amendments to be incorporated into the Family Court Act 1997 (WA), so they apply to parties who are not married. There may be a similar delay for this new set of amendments to be carried over through the Parliament of Western Australia to apply to de facto financial matters.
If you would like advice on how family law impacts on your particular circumstance, please contact Lynn & Brown Lawyers to book an initial consultation.
About the Author: Kate was admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2012 and has practised family law for many years. She is motivated to help clients achieve positive outcomes as efficiently and amicably as possible but also has experience in court proceedings.
