Family Law Paragraphs - Master Doc PDF

LAW CASES, MEDIA + STATS LIMITATION Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships - Property (Relationships) Act 1984 - In the 12 months following the reform, - Section 47 of...

LAW CASES, MEDIA + STATS LIMITATION Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships - Property (Relationships) Act 1984 - In the 12 months following the reform, - Section 47 of the Marriage Act (1961) (NSW) recognised same sex 6000 same-sex marriages were (Cth) allows religious ministers and relationships as having the same legal recorded across the country (ABC, celebrants to refuse to solemnise a standing as heterosexual de facto 2018). marriage if it interferes with religious relationships (as of amendments in 1999 beliefs, and allows religious bodies to (Property (Relationships) Legislation refuse to provide facilities for the same Amendment Act 1999 (NSW)) reason. This creates unjust outcomes for - Family Law Amendment (De Facto same-sex couples, as it perpetuates Financial Matters and other discrimination by allowing ministers to Measures) Act 2008 (Cth) extended the use their religion as a reason for refusing definition of ‘de facto’ to include two to solemnise a marriage. people who aren’t married or related by blood and who live together on a genuine domestic basis, including same sex relationships, further achieving just outcomes for same sex couples by recognising them as an official relationship - Same Sex relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws - General Reform) Act 2008 (Cth), which amended laws about tax, superannuation, Medicare, aged care, veterans’ entitlements, family law and child support to include provisions for same-sex couples. - Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 (Cth), giving married same sex couples the same legal rights as heterosexual ones. This removed the last legal form of discrimination against SSC, allowing them to be legally married under Federal law Custody and Maintenance - Under s60CC of the Family Law - Children under 4 in shared care - For the protection of children to become Amendment (Shared Parental arrangements have a heightened risk of highly effective, they need legal rights  LAW CASES, MEDIA + STATS LIMITATION Responsibility) Act 2006 (Cth), a anxiety (SMH 2010: Shared Babies at rather than a generalised set of “best determination of the best interests of the Risk of Anxiety). interest” considerations, and the court child included two primary - M v M (1988) ⇒ It was thought that a must be responsible for ensuring that considerations which were equally young girl’s father could possibly be these rights are protected. weighted: the child’s right to maintain a abusing her. The evidence was unclear, - E.g. Murder of Jack and Jennifer meaningful relationship with both however the court ruled that access to Edwards in 2018 ⇒ litany of errors made parents (presumption of shared parental the father would have entailed a risk that by police responsibility) and the need to protect the child might be sexually abused and the child from harm her welfare endangered, and therefore - Family Law Amendment (Family they were not to see each other. Violence and Other Measures) Act 2011 ⇒ prioritised the safety of the child from harm over the presumption of shared parental responsibility, to better protect the best interests of the child and ensure that the child’s physical wellbeing is weighted more than the child having a meaningful relationship with both parents - Under Ss61DA FLA, the presumption of shared parenting won’t apply if there are reasonable grounds to believe that a parent has engaged in abuse of the child or any other child, or domestic violence. - Family Law Amendment Act 2023 ⇒ removes the consideration of equal shared parental responsibility and provides a simplified list of six considerations for courts to consider when deciding parenting arrangements, including the safety of the child and the child’s views. Birth Technologies + Surrogacy - Family Law Act 1975 outlines all - B v J (1996). A known sperm donor who - Whilst New South Wales residents who presumptions of parentage, stating that assisted a lesbian couple was found not procure commercial surrogacies risk a a child born to a woman is considered to to be a “parent" for the purposes of the fine of up to $275,000 and/or be a child of her and her partner at the Child Support Assessment Act 1989 imprisonment for up to two years, many time. (Cth), after agreeing that he would have couples still pursue commercial - Status of Children Act (NSW) (SOCA) neither financial nor parenting surrogacy overseas due to difficulty in implemented in 1996 obligations in respect of the children finding altruistic surrogates.  LAW CASES, MEDIA + STATS LIMITATION - Under s5 of SOCA, it is conceived. Therefore, when the couple - An Australian couple who had entered recognised that all children have asked for him to pay child support, he into a surrogacy arrangement overseas the same legal status and rights, did not fall within the definition of a refused to take both children home when regardless of whether they were parent and was thus not liable to pay it. the surrogate mother gave birth to twins. conceived naturally, using - Masson v Parsons (2019), where ‘Baby Gammy’, who was born with Down artificial semination, IVF or born Masson was a sperm donor to Parsons syndrome, was rejected by the through a surrogacy arrangement and her female partner. After a high commissioning couple who then - This clarified presumptions of court appeal, it was found that Masson returned to Australia with his twin sister, parentage for BTs and surrogacy, had parental rights over the child, as he leaving the boy with his mother in where when a couple are married played an active role in its life. Thailand or in a de facto relationship, the - The use of surrogacy is also rising due - CEDAW/CROC? birth mother is the mother and to uncertainties surrounding adoption, partner is the other parent. where the median wait time for - Under the Surrogacy Act 2010 (NSW), it intercountry adoption is just under three is now possible to transfer the parentage years (ABC, “What is the adoption of the child from the birth parent to the process in Australia…”, 2021). prospective parent in the surrogacy contract. Domestic Violence - Crimes (Domestic and Personal - 2015 NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics - Hannah Clarke: On February 19, 2020, Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) (CDPVA) and Research study showing that 98 Ms Clarke was driving her three children made domestic and family violence a percent of women who experienced to school in Brisbane, when her specific, stand alone crime, highlighting physical violence, no longer did after estranged ex-husband, who she had the importance of protecting victims of taking out an AVO. already taken out an ADVO against, such violence. - Under the National Domestic Violence jumped in the car, splashed petrol - Stalking (S8) and intimidation (S7) ⇒ Order Scheme, An ADVO made on or around and set it on fire. The children both punishable by 5 years after 25 November 2017 is automatically died in the car, whilst Ms Clarke died imprisonment recognised and enforceable in any later in hospital of severe burns. This - Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders Australian state or territory. tragic incident underscores the (ADVOs). These were first introduced as - They are written in plain english limitations of legal protections when part of the Crimes Act 1900 in 1983, but perpetrators are determined to inflict following the 2007 reform, they have harm. been strengthened. - Lynda Greenwood: murdered in 2020 by - The default length of ADVOs is 2 years, her ex-partner Jason Lloyd ⇒ At the but can be extended at the discretion of time Lloyd was the subject of an police/courts. apprehended domestic violence order - 2 years imprisonment if breached - Molly Ticehurst was allegedly murdered - In NSW, final ADVOs are granted in the by her ex-boyfriend just two weeks after Local Court, where the victim must prove he faced Dubbo Local Court charged on the balance of probabilities that they  LAW CASES, MEDIA + STATS LIMITATION have reasonable grounds to fear with other violent offences against her, personal violence, intimidation or including rape and intimidation stalking by the offender. However, interim or provisional ADVOs can be set by police when the situation is urgent, also introduced in the 2007 reform. FDR + Courts - Section 10F of the Family Law Act 1975 - 97% of family matters are resolved - The system has been prohibitively (Cth) (FLA), defines FDR as a before even going to court. expensive and slow. non-judicial process in which an - President of the Law Council of independent practitioner helps people Australia, Fiona McLeod: "The current affected by a separation or divorce to lack of resources has meant that families resolve their disputes with each other facing the most serious family law issues - Includes mediation, reconciliation are waiting for up to three years or more counselling and post separation before a final trial.” (ABC, 2017: “Review parenting programs into 'painstakingly slow, prohibitively - After accessing these services, couples expensive' family law system may attend court - as stated in Section announced”) 60I of the FLA, which requires couples to - In 2021, it was combined with the make a genuine effort to resolve their Federal Circuit Court, creating the disputes using FDR before they can Federal Circuit and Family Court of apply for a court order (including Australia parenting orders). - Introduced a new case management - When domestic violence is suspected or pathway which aimed to ensure that 90 evident, however, court may be percent of cases are resolved within 12 accessed straight away. months of filing. - Family Law Court was established under - Former Family Court judge Stephen the FLA in 1975 as a specialised court O'Ryan QC was outraged, saying the court he presided over had been "effectively abolished". "I'm absolutely horrified," he said. (ABC, 2019: “Family Court merger condemned by former judges and legal experts after legislation passed”). - Simic v Norton (2017) where the parties accrued almost $900K in legal fees. - Backlogs of more than a year’s worth of cases, with many Federal Circuit Court judges having between 400–500 cases in their dockets, some as many as 630. LAW CASES, MEDIA + STATS LIMITATION NON-LEGAL N/A - Rosie Batty - The murders of Hannah Clarke, Molly - In 2013, DV was said to be Australia’s Ticehurst and thousands of others “filthy little secret” by then Victorian shows that real change must occur for police chief Ken Lay (Herald Sun, 2013) there to be a positive outcome, and - Luke Batty Foundation non-legal responses cannot adequately - Royal Commission into family violence in address this. 2015, which aimed to prevent family violence, improve support for victim survivors and hold perpetrators to account - Organisations such as Women's Shelters and Domestic Violence Hotlines such as 1800RESPECT offer safe havens and critical resources for those escaping abusive situations - These services often include counselling, legal advice, and emergency housing, which are vital for the immediate safety and long-term recovery of victims