The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has been commissioned by the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, to carry out a comprehensive review of Australia’s
family law system.
This will be the first review that has been conducted since the introduction of the Family Law Act in 1976. In the opinion of the Attorney-General the review is necessary and long overdue, as Australian families and their needs have changed significantly since the 1970s.
The review will be led by Professor Helen Rhoades, who has a number of relevant credentials to her name, including her position as a professor at the Melbourne Law School, her role as the Co-convenor of the Melbourne Law School's Family and Children's Law Research Group and her membership of the National Advisory Board of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.
The review of the family law system has been described as ‘broad and far reaching’. Under the terms of reference of the commission, the ALRC will consider whether reforms to the family law system are necessary or desirable, and if so what these reforms should be. Within this, it has been asked to consider a number of specific areas, including:
- the appropriate, early and cost-effective resolution of all family law disputes;
- the protection of the best interests of children and their safety;
- family law services, including (but not limited to) dispute resolution services;
- collaboration, coordination, and integration between the family law system and other Commonwealth, state and territory systems, including family support services and the family violence and child protection systems; and
- whether the adversarial court system offers the best way to support the safety of families and resolve matters in the best interests of children, and the opportunities for less adversarial resolution of parenting and property disputes.
The announcement has been welcomed by the
Law Council, which said it looks forward to taking part in the review. However, it has warned that any meaningful and lasting reform will require significant court and legal assistance funding.
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