Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

The requirement in the bill that people wishing to apply to court for a parenting order must first attempt dispute resolution was the result of a bipartisan recommendation from Every picture tells a story. That is the background to it. Senator Ludwig has mentioned amendments introduced in the House that talk about the certificate concerned, and we have provided a means by which people can avoid being involved in dispute resolution if violence has occurred. That can be done by way of a certification, by a dispute resolution practitioner or by judicial proceedings where someone takes up the matter in pre-trial proceedings. I think that that is sufficient exception to the requirement for dispute resolution engagement, and I think that Senator Ludwig’s point is a good one—that if you have got a sworn statement then on the face of it you have got to accept that. What we are saying is that you leave it to the dispute resolution practitioner to determine the facts of the case. Again, you really cannot be too prescriptive in human affairs as to what may or may not take place. It is important to give those professional people the ability to assess it, make that determination and provide the certificate. I think that that is the way to go. I think we do provide sufficient exception where there are cases of violence, and we do provide this in a number of ways—not just one. Therefore we oppose the Greens amendments.