26 September 2023

Parliament to probe family law system

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The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has announced a new inquiry into the family law system.

To be conducted by a Joint Parliamentary Committee of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the inquiry is to be aimed at ascertaining whether the system is “fit for purpose”.

Mr Morrison said there was a need to ensure families could resolve issues as quickly and fairly as possible, so everyone could move on with their lives.

“This inquiry will allow the Parliament to hear directly from families and listen to them as they give their accounts of how the family law system has been impacting them and how it interacts with the child support system,” Mr Morrison said.

“This is a serious issue that has been raised by Members and Senators across the Parliament.”

He said the inquiry would have broad terms of reference and be led by Member of Parliament, Kevin Andrews.

“The Government is also considering the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission report into family law…and will respond in full to all of those recommendations relating to the design of multiple important provisions in the Family Law Act 1975,” Mr Morrison said.

Attorney-General, Christian Porter said the Select Committee’s focus would be on specific areas where there might be scope for improvement in the family law system, the courts or other policy areas such as child support.

“It will also look at how the family law system, State and Territory child protection systems and family and domestic violence jurisdictions can communicate better,” Mr Porter said.

“Amongst other issues, it will address important operational issues of enforcement of court orders and legal costs to families of family law proceedings, with a particular focus on instances where legal fees are disproportionate to the total asset pool or issues in dispute,” Mr Porter said.

He said the Committee would have a particular focus on issues affecting grandparent carers.

The inquiry’s Terms of Reference can be accessed at this PS News link.

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