Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and for her excellent work in advocating for funding in her electorate of Bass. I will be speaking about the $140 million worth of investment in Australia's legal system, but it's probably appropriate to start by saying that we were very pleased that, in the 2020-21 budget, we were able to provide $5.4 million in funding for the family law system, the Family Court and its registry. That's going to improve the security there, and the experience for all of the families in the member's electorate, and that funding would not have happened but for your advocacy, Member for Bass. That was part of the more than $140 million investment in the legal system that was announced in the 2020-21 budget, and much of that was directed to the family law system to improve the situation for Australians.

The COVID-19 pandemic—as the Treasurer has noted, a once-in-a-generation economic shock—has put enormous pressure on Australian families right across the country, and, sadly, the consequences of that pressure are that at certain points families need more assistance from government services, not only court services directly but also services that aid the courts and, indeed, divert matters from the courts. It is notable that earlier this year, at the peak of the COVID crisis, we reacted immediately by providing an additional $63.3 million in funding for frontline legal services to respond to COVID-19. That included $20 million for matters involving family violence, and $13.5 million so that services could be delivered virtually and remotely. Whilst it wasn't without its stresses, the court system, with that extra funding, managed to cope very well, I think, during that period, and to help and support families.

Then, in addition to that $63.3 million, in this budget there is $140 million worth of investment, and that includes, for instance, the provision of $87 million towards continuing family law services, which are critical at a time when families are dealing with the impacts of COVID. In fact, Family and Relationship Services Australia said:

The reality of the funding commitment by the Government is that we can now keep our doors open and avoid significant job losses. This will see a collective sigh of relief from both those workers and the 100,000 Australians they help, who otherwise would not have been able to access family and relationship services …

That additional funding goes right to services around the country, including those providing counselling to separating families.

Also, in this budget, we've invested $35.7 million in our courts, with increased funding for the Federal Circuit Court. That will see matters resolved faster and more efficiently, including family law cases—that's four additional judges and five family law registrars. There's another $2.5 million supporting the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court to continue to operate their specialist national COVID-19 lists.

So this was a budget which, apart from the very many large macroeconomic matters, focused in on families, particularly this area of family law and the Family Court.

See this speech in context