Inquiry into family violence orders
30 August 2024
The Law Council recently made a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs in response to its inquiry into family violence orders. The inquiry’s terms of reference related to what can be done, at the federal level, to provide better access to family violence orders for victim-survivors in the family law system, and the effective enforcement of those orders.
The Law Council’s submission was informed by contributions from the Family Law Section, in addition to several Constituent Bodies and Advisory Committees, and made the following key arguments:
- While the Family Law Act 1975 recognises the profound effect of family violence on children and families, the family law system as a whole – including the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and wrap-around specialist services – is not sufficiently equipped, nor resourced, to respond to the complexities of family violence appropriately.
- Systemic change is needed to better address systems-abuse tactics and power imbalances between parties, and to enable victim-survivors of family violence to resolve family law disputes in a manner that is safe, and free from further abuse from perpetrators. This system must also balance the interests and legal needs of the accused party in matters where family violence is alleged.
- The legal assistance sector in Australia is significantly underfunded and, as a result, is unable to meet the needs of the community, including those who are affected by family violence. The extent, and impacts, of this chronic underfunding was comprehensively illustrated in the Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership Final Report, and this situation will only deteriorate without urgent action.
The submission makes 12 recommendations, relating to information sharing, risk screening, community education (including police), legal assistance sector funding, court resourcing, and the availability of wrap-around, culturally appropriate support services, including qualified interpreters.
The Law Council will be appearing at a public hearing of the Committee on 30 August 2024, as part of a panel discussion with National Legal Aid and Women’s Legal Services Australia, where we will emphasise and elaborate on the key points raised in our submission.
We look forward to engaging closely with the Committee’s recommendations upon the release of its Final Report, likely in late 2024.
Last Updated on 30/08/2024