Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023. The bill provides significant reforms to ensure that children's best interests are placed at the centre of the family law system and its operation. This is a fundamentally important reform and something that is much needed. I served on the select committee inquiry into family law with some people who are in the chamber now. I have to say that I didn't have any personal experience in family law previously, but this certainly opened my eyes to what happens—the prejudice and the impact that going through this process has on children. Therefore, I'm very proud to be here and able to support this bill.

As I said, after sitting on the joint committee on family law, I heard so much evidence provided to the committee about improving the family law system. This reform has said on a consistent basis that putting the rights and interests of the child in family law disputes should be the No. 1 priority within the family law system in this country.

This bill clarifies the needlessly complex framework in the Family Law Act 1975 for determining parenting arrangements to ensure that the best interests of children are the focus of decision-making. This is the Albanese Labor government delivering for the interests of the child and in the interest of families and their communities. These laws impact whether your child's at a day care centre or in school—it's very complex, the impact that this has on the child's welfare, on those who are caring and on those who are educating, to try to balance the relationship between parents and the child. This bill responds to consist an calls from women and children's safety advocates for a focus on safety and a repeal of the presumption of equal shared parenting responsibility. The bill also implements a number of improvements to the way family matters are managed. These changes will increase a court's ability to prevent harm to parties and children from protracted and adversarial litigation.

For those of you who have been following this bill, it was introduced in the Senate on 13 June 2023. The bill was also referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for an inquiry and report by 24 August. I commend my fellow committee members for the work that they did in relation to this bill. The committee made seven recommendations for further changes to the text of the bill, and the Albanese government supports these recommendations. I'll note the detail of some of these recommendations. First, amendments have been drafted to schedule 1 of this bill to include specific reference to consideration of the history of family violence, abuse and neglect as factors that a court must consider in parenting orders. These amendments also strengthen language that recognises the importance of cultural connection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. For recommendation 2, amendments have been drafted to the application provision for key schedules and parts to ensure the changes apply to all matters after commencement, except where final hearings are under way. For recommendation 3, amendments have been drafted to remove specific provisions for the awarding of costs in parenting order compliance and enforcement matters. This will avoid duplication of the court's discretionary power to award costs in family law matters under section 117 of the Family Law Act. For recommendations 4 and 5, amendments have been drafted to the bill to expand definitions of 'member of the family' and 'relative' for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. These amendments will ensure it is clear that kinship systems are captured within these definitions. They will also guarantee that disclosure obligations do not apply to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as a result of these expanded definitions. For recommendation 6, amendments have been drafted to repeal subsection 111(1B) of the Family Law Act in conjunction with regulation change. This will enable the objections of the child to a return order to be taken into consideration under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The recommendations also reflect the views of key stakeholders such as the Law Council of Australia and Women's Legal Services Australia. As such, they are expected to be well received. I thank those organisations for their ongoing advocacy for these very important changes that, unfortunately, impact so many lives in this country.

The committee made two further recommendations to the government to undertake an education and awareness campaign on the bill and develop appropriate protections in relation to the use of sensitive information. The Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 represents the government's commitment to improving the family law system, so that it is accessible, safer, and simpler to use, and so that it delivers justice and fairness for all Australian families. It is crucial for this bill to be able to ensure that it is safer and simpler, and that it delivers justice and fairness to all Australian families.

Most importantly, it places the best interests of children at the centre of the system and its operation. I can't believe that we had to introduce a bill that would do that. Having heard evidence not only in relation to this bill but in the select committee, I find it very obvious that in the community there is a lot of anger, a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of interpretation of the law. To be frank with you, it is just devastating to hear about some of the impact on children and young adolescents, in terms of their mental health and their general health, from going through the family law system. So we have to do something. It's crucial that we streamline it and make it simpler. Sometimes, along the way, it would be nice to remember that these people were once in love. Therefore, they should remember that when making provision for their children going forward.

As I said before, I'm proud to stand here before you in the debate on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 because it's a great policy initiative, a bill that will make tangible differences to improve the lives of Australians who go through the family law system. As I pointed out earlier, the family law system has been subject to a number of significant inquiries in the past decade, including the Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry which produced the 2019 report Family law for the future: an inquiry into the family law system (ALRC report 135) and the 2019 to 2021 inquiry by the Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System, which I served on and which opened my eyes, unfortunately, to the implications of a breakdown in families and the impact that it has on those individuals and, more importantly, on their children. These inquiries consistently identified challenges for the family law system, including overly complex and confusing legislation, community misrepresentation about the law, and the regularity of protracted and harmful litigation. It is now time for the government to address a backlog of recommendations for legislative reform and to centre the best interests of children in the family law system.

The Albanese government is committed to the ongoing improvement of Australia's federal courts. To this end, this bill also seeks to enhance the operations of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. I'm confident that the reforms will ultimately strengthen the voice of Australian children in family law matters by introducing a requirement for independent children's lawyers to meet directly with children. Further, it will increase judicial discretion to appoint independent children's lawyers in matters under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The bill will provide courts with greater powers to protect parties and children from the harmful affects of protracted and adversarial litigation. The bill will also make the restrictions on the publication of family law proceedings clearer and easier to understand for both legal professionals and people with a non-legal background.

I thank my fellow Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee members for their work on this bill. Further, I would like to recognise the tireless work of the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, in helping to make this bill become a reality in this place. It is long overdue. It's not as if we haven't been aware of the impact that going through the family law system has been having on both parties, as well as their children. So it's regrettable that it's taken an Albanese Labor government to do this, after nine years of the previous government and the work of other committees. I know that the legal and constitutional affairs committee have done other inquiries, so they have had advice about this. We know that the legal aid commission and so many other groups have been advocating for children to become the centre of concern and for the necessary changes to be made to ensure that child safety and welfare are front and centre in the family law courts. So I'm very happy to be here and to be able to support the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023. I acknowledge the Attorney-General for his leadership in making this bill a reality. I will always give credit to those who bring about change for the better, which is why I'm very happy to be here as a member of the Albanese government. We are doing everything we can to help Australian children navigate their way through the implications of going through the Family Court without harm.

I commend this bill to the chamber, and I urge those who are contemplating any amendments to consider the bill and their amendments. If they're for the better, then no doubt the chamber will view those as it should for better outcomes for all of those. I commend this bill to the floor.