AUSTRALIAN FAMILY LAW

Family law deals with family relations including divorce, adoption, paternity, child custody and support.

The Family Law Act 1975 introduced a new law dealing with the dissolution and nullity of marriage, custody and welfare of the children, maintenance and the settlement of property between the parties to a marriage in Australia.

The Act created the Family Court of Australia as a specialist court dealing only with matrimonial and associated proceedings. The Family Court's jurisdiction has been expanded significantly in recent years, including a wider federal jurisdiction in matters such as bankruptcy, administrative law and taxation appeals.

DIVORCE

The Act provides that there is only one ground for divorce: that of irretrievable breakdown of a marriage. This ground is established if the husband and wife have lived separately and apart from each other (including separation under the same roof) for twelve months and there is no reasonable likelihood of their reconciliation.

The Family Law Act also deals with the guardianship, custody and access to and maintenance of ex-nuptial children and provides an extensive regime for the settling of disputes between divorced persons in respect of their property and for maintenance of spouses where this is appropriate.

CHILD CUSTODY & SUPPORT ISSUES

Children are often a primary concern regardless of the nature of the parents' relationship. Upon divorce, many people seek assistance with child custody issues. Despite the existence of a legal relationship between the parents, they often need assistance with child support and visitation issues.

There is separate child support legislation providing a legislative scheme for calculation and enforcement of maintenance of children.

The Child Support Agency, established in 1988 as part of the Australian Taxation Office, administers the Child Support Scheme, by which maintenance is assessed on the ability of both parents to pay, and payment of court ordered maintenance enforced by allowing for deductions to be made directly from salaries and wages.

Under the Family Law Act, great emphasis is placed on the counselling services available through the Family Court to persons involved in proceedings, as well as to any persons who have encountered marriage problems or difficulties relating to the resolution of custody and access questions.

It is not necessary to start proceedings in the Court to be able to make use of these services.

MEDIATION SERVICES

The Family Court also provides mediation services to help resolve disputes. Mediation and counselling are also available from non-Government organisations and some of these organisations are assisted through Commonwealth funding to provide these services.

Lawyers engaged in a family law practice are very skilled counselors and negotiators, whose success is often dependent upon their ability to demonstrate genuine concern and compassion for their clients.