Changes to the Family Law Act

In October 2023 two bills reforming the family law system passed the Senate. The Family Law Amendment Act 2023 and the Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Act 2023 are the most significant changes to the Family Law Act since the 2006 reforms.

The Family Law Amendment Act reforms several key aspects of the Family Law Act relating to parenting matters. Notably: -

• The presumption of equal shared parental responsibility has been removed from the Act.

• The previous ‘best interests’ considerations, of which there were 14, have been replaced with 7 considerations. There are no longer ‘primary considerations’ and ‘secondary considerations’.

• The equal time and substantial and significant time considerations have been removed from the Act.

• The Court have set out the considerations when revisiting previous parenting orders.

The changes will come into effect from 6 May 2024.

In the lead up to these changes, we will take a deep dive into the new legislation. We will outline how the new act differs to the current system and provide our thoughts on how this may affect parenting matters.

Our overall assessment of the legalisation is that family violence has been placed front and centre of the court’s considerations when dealing with parenting matters. There appears to be a greater emphasis on safety, for both children and participants in the system. While there is a familiarity to the new provisions, they are a significant change to what is in the current Act. We expect there will be a flurry of cases exploring how the new legalisation is to be interpreted by the courts.

Please note: the information in this article is general in nature and is not legal advice. For legal advice about your circumstances, contact us to make an appointment with one of our solicitors.