Agd future Focus of Family Law Services Final Report Jan 2016

Introduction

This section provides an overview of the project background, scope and approach.

1.1Project background

1.1.1Overview

The Family Law Services (FLS) are a suite of out-of-court services delivered across Australia by family law service providers on behalf of the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) (Commonwealth). The services aim to provide alternatives to formal legal processes for families who are separated, separating or in dispute to improve their relationships in the best interests of children. The services emphasise non-adversarial and early dispute resolution and are designed to divert family disputes from the court system.

There have been a number of reviews of FLS over the past two decades, brought together by the 2003 ‘Every Picture Tells a Story Report’,³ and continued with the large scale reforms in 2006 that sought to ‘represent generational change in family law…away from litigation and towards co-operative parenting’.⁴ This reorientation resulted in a greater focus on the resolution of disputes out of court.

Since 2006, a number of reviews have examined various aspects of the family law system.

Figure - Research into FLS over time

A comprehensive review of the 2006 reforms was carried out in December 2009 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.⁵ This review concluded that the system post-reform was broadly meeting the objectives of requiring parents to attempt mediation, and that there was evidence of more post-separation disputes being responded to primarily by family relationship services.

Other reviews have included the 2014 Productivity Commission report, Access to Justice Arrangements, and the 2013 ACIL Allen Research on Family Support Program family law services report, which was designed to help shape future directions in family law services, post-implementation of the new funding service arrangements from 1 July 2014 (‘the Allen Report’).⁶ The Allen Report included analysis of existing service location and reach, whether services were meeting community needs and the ability of families to gain access to and navigate these services. The report also highlighted the need and opportunities for ongoing improvement to the FLS program.

These, and other, reviews identified a range of concerns with the system, including:

that Australia’s civil justice system is ‘too slow, too expensive and too adversarial’⁷

there may be a greater role for family law services in supporting people with family or domestic violence issues, and addressing current gaps in linkages between services may help to address this⁸

there may be gaps (both geographical and in providing culturally appropriate services) in addressing the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) clients⁹

there may be poorer service coverage in sparser states and territories, with the full suite of family law services not available in some areas¹⁰

there may be issues or “pressure points” in client pathways through the family law system, which can become repetitive and complex. ¹¹

Other key pressure points and opportunities in the system include:

Figure - Pressures and opportunities in the Family Law System

Overall, funding provided to family law services is to remain static over the next funding period, while there is expected to be general population growth and an increase in clients with complex needs. This will result in a need to consider innovative responses to meet the future needs of Australians.

1.1.2Purpose of this review

In responding to these pressures and opportunities, and building on significant prior research and analysis of the sector, KPMG has been engaged to provide advice to assist in:

Identifying how the future needs of the Australian community for family law services (FLS) can be best met over the long term and in a sustainable way.

In relation to sustainability in FLS, consideration should be given to the National Indigenous Reform Agreement and its sustainability principle, which indicates that ‘programs and services should be directed and resourced over an adequate period of time to meet the COAG targets’.¹² While the services are not measured directly against the National Indigenous Reform Agreement outcomes and indicators, ensuring the ongoing sustainability of FLS for all cohorts remains an important objective. A paper reviewing the service delivery of the Family and Relationships Services defines ‘sustainability’ in relation to the effectiveness of the service delivery model in rural, regional and remote areas.¹³ In that paper, sustainability of workers to provide effective care to clients and the community is analysed at three levels:

Organisation level – being the extent to which the organisation enables staff to deliver the program

Program level – being the extent to which the program has access to quality staff who meet client needs

Service level – being the extent and strength of service links with other services that support the same program.¹⁴

For the purposes of this report, KPMG has defined sustainability as having two essential characteristics: services are adaptable and affordable. Each of these characteristics is further outlined below.

Adaptable services

Forecasting and adaptation – For services to be sustainable, services need to have the capacity to be able to recognise and respond to changing situations so that services can be delivered to provide future value and meet demand.¹⁵ Feedback mechanisms need to be in place at the organisational, program and service level to be able to foresee, assess and plan for changes and future risks. At the organisational level, this involves monitoring factors that are impacting on the organisation and allied services. At the program level, forecasting involves being able to accurately monitor changing demand (volume) and needs for the service. At the service level, adaptation involves the capacity and autonomy (enough ‘flex’) within the system to be able to respond to local needs and to innovate when needed.

Strategic positioning and value – The value of the service to community may change over time, and this may be influenced by broader social, political, technological and economic trends. The context of services may change over time so that services may need to be nimble and flexible in order to respond to a changing context. Services may need to be redefined and refreshed with a renewed scope.

Affordable services

For FLS to endure into the future, system constraints need to be recognised so that services are designed so that they are cost effective and affordable over the next 10 years.

It is now nearly a decade since the planning for the new and expanded family law services commenced, including the selection of locations for service outlets. In order to ensure long term sustainability of FLS, it is timely to examine the range of changes which have taken place across Australia since the 2006 reforms and expected future changes. In identifying these changes and building on existing current good practice in the sector, this report will provide AGD with research and insights into potential options and adjustments that may need to be made in order for the services to continue to meet the needs of Australians into the future.