Family courts and their relationship with child protection agencies
19.53 Proceedings may commence in the family courts, and allegations of family violence, including abuse of a child, or neglect of a child, may be made in those proceedings. While most family law disputes are resolved by negotiation or family dispute resolution (FDR), a significant number of those cases that go on to be tried …
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Read moreThe relationship between family law and child protection law
19.46 The Family Law Act and state and territory child protection legislation both enable courts to make orders regulating and displacing parental responsibility for children. The Family Law Act is generally invoked when there is a dispute between parents. However, any person who is concerned with the wellbeing of a child can apply for a …
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Read moreProtection order conditions and the criminal law
11.123 Conditions in protection orders may overlap with: general prohibitions or requirements imposed by the criminal law; bail conditions;[168] pre-sentencing orders; and orders made on sentencing—including non-contact and place restriction orders. 11.124 In addition, protection orders can impose conditions that restrict behaviour not otherwise prohibited by the criminal law, as well as conditions—such as orders …
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Read moreConcurrent proceedings under family violence laws and the criminal law
11.3 The family violence legislation of most states and territories expressly recognises that there can be concurrent criminal and civil proceedings.[2] For example, s 62 of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989 (Qld) provides that an application can be made and dealt with under the Act notwithstanding that a person concerned in the …
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Read moreFamily law
Definition of family violence in the Family Law Act6.61 The Family Law Act distinguishes between ‘family violence’ and abuse of a child. The same conduct in relation to a child, however, may constitute both family violence and child abuse.[63] Family violence is defined to mean conduct, whether actual or threatened, by a person towards, or …
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Read moreChild protection law
Historical development of child protection law4.56 The Supreme Court of each state and territory has a very wide power to make orders to protect the welfare of children, known as the parens patriae (‘parent of the country’) jurisdiction, the underlying premise of which is that the children in question have no other, or no other …
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Read moreFramework for reform
The specific objective of this Inquiry is to improve safety for women and children in the context of family violence through recommendations for reform of legal frameworks. In this context, the idea of ‘frameworks’ extends beyond law in the form of legislative instruments to include education, information sharing and other measures to improve police and …
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Read morePrinciples of reform
3.8 The Australian Government has identified a clear goal ‘to reduce all violence in our communities’, recognising that ‘whatever the form violence takes, it has serious and often devastating consequences for victims, their extended families and the community’.[5] A specific concern—and the immediate trigger—for the work of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women …
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Read moreFramework of reform recommendations
Background3.20 The consequence of the division of powers discussed in Chapter 2 means that ‘neither the Commonwealth nor the States’ jurisdiction provides a family unit with the complete suite of judicial solutions to address all of the legal issues that may impact on a family in respect of their children’.[19]3.21 This fragmentation of jurisdiction sits …
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Read moreProcesses of reform
Consultation and collaboration processes1.75 Commitment to widespread consultation is a hallmark of best practice law reform.[93] Moreover, under the provisions of the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 (Cth), the ALRC ‘may inform itself in any way it thinks fit’ for the purposes of reviewing or considering anything that is the subject of an inquiry.[94] …
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