Agd future Focus of Family Law Services Final Report Jan 2016

1.4How to read this report

This report has been prepared in consultation with AGD and sets out the key observations which may inform the future focus of FLS.

Throughout this report, key observations for consideration are identified in green boxes. Case studies signposting relevant information gathered during consultations are identified in purple boxes, as depicted below.

Key observations of analysis

Case studies identified through research and discussion with service providers and peak bodies

At the conclusion of relevant sections, key potential areas of interest for FLS are identified in blue tables. Factors for consideration, and options for addressing these issues, are addressed in Chapter 5 of this report. The tables set out a key for locating the corresponding section in Chapter 5, as outlined below.

Table - Example option table

Area of interest	Option for improvement	Option category	Reference
Increasing client complexity	Encouraging efficient client pathways	Service collaboration	B3
Increasing demand for FLS resulting in a need for innovative solutions to meet client need	Increased use of TDRS	Service delivery	C2

It is recommended that this document be consulted alongside the Tableau Model and the SCF. A compendium of appendices is also supplied with this report. Together, these resources comprise the variety of options for future considerations in relation to FLS.

2Family Law Services

This section provides a high-level description of the current suite of FLS, including background on the establishment of FLS, service types and administrative arrangements.

2.1Overview and recent changes to FLS

The provision of mediation services for matrimonial disputes began in Australia in the mid-20^th century. A number of changes have occurred in the years since, in order to continue to adapt service provision to the changing needs of Australians. The modern family law system arose from the introduction of no fault divorce and the establishment of the Family Court of Australia in the mid-1970s. Since that time, there have been a number of changes to the provision of family law services in Australia, the most recent and significant of which occurred in 2006.

Since the 2006 reforms to the family law system, FLS have become a central part of Australia’s response to family separation. They provide information, referrals and critical services to the community, effecting a shift away from legal responses and towards cooperative post-separation parenting. These reforms resulted from the recommendations of a 2003 inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs Every Picture Tells a Story Report.¹⁷

The report outlined two key recommendations for the family law services: that the family law system should be doing more to support children and young people who, through no fault of their own, found themselves involved in conflict between their parents, and that there was a need for co-operative, non-adversarial parenting that prioritised the needs of children.¹⁸ Further, the report identified that there was a need to address gaps in the areas of child protection and family violence.¹⁹

As a result of the Every Picture Tells a Story Report, broad reforms to the family law system were undertaken in 2006. Paramount within these was the establishment of a network of 65 Family Relationship Centres (FRCs), designed to act as a single gateway into the family law system. The 2006 reforms aimed to ‘represent generational change in family law’ and bring about a cultural shift ‘away from litigation and towards cooperative parenting.’²⁰ This was to be achieved by refocusing the family law services on:

helping families to build strong, healthy relationships and prevent separation

encouraging greater involvement by both parents in their children’s lives after separation, and protecting children from violence and abuse

helping separated parents agree on what was best for their child (as opposed to litigating), through the provision of information, advice and effective dispute resolution services

establishing a highly visible entry point to FLS, that would also operate as a ‘doorway’ to other services, providing referrals where necessary.²¹

These reforms were designed to create a more coordinated and effective family law system, with an emphasis on providing early dispute resolution and avoiding adversarial court and litigation-based pathways. A concurrent aim was to develop a family law system that was less adversarial in its mentality, and focused on the development of solutions through mediation, that placed the needs of the child at the forefront of family discussion.

The resulting legislative changes to the Family Law Act required parents to attend family dispute resolution before filing for a court application (with some exceptions, including in cases with concerns of family violence and/or child abuse), and placed an increased emphasis on the need for both parents to be involved in their children’s lives after separation. This included a presumption in favour of equal shared parental responsibility. To supplement this, an increased emphasis was placed on the need to protect children from exposure to family violence and child abuse, and legislative support was introduced for less adversarial court processes in children’s matters.

The creation of FRCs in 2006 signalled a commitment to providing greater care and support to separating families in a non-adversarial environment, and a clearly marked entry point to a system that could provide assistance to families across a wide, socio-legal scope.

Philosophically, FLS are designed for universal access for all Australians, with a ‘no-wrong-door approach,’ meaning each service is responsible for referring clients to another if they do not have the capacity or the capability to meet their needs.²²

Research has demonstrated a sharp decrease in court filings involving children and children-plus-property since the 2006 reforms. This sharp drop was sustained until 2009-10 and has since stabilised to a decrease of approximately 25 per cent since 2004-05. A decrease of court filings across all categories of applications by 14 per cent was recorded in the same period.²³

Data collected during a study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) indicates an increase in the complexity of cases reaching court post-2006, suggesting that a greater number of less complex cases may be being addressed during mediation.²⁴ These services remain a key mechanism by which the Australian Government addresses the needs of Australians and limits the number of disputes that unnecessarily enter the court system.