Key developments
- Family Law Amendment Bill 2024
- Draft Model Operating Requirements version 7.01
- Review of the Separation Regime in Model Operating Requirement 5.6
- Scams Prevention Framework
- AFCA approach to superannuation death benefit complaints
- Audit of the design and implementation of the Measuring What Matters Framework
- Mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings
- Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
- Cyber Security Legislative Package
Family Law Amendment Bill 2024
The Family Law Committee contributed to a Law Society submission to the Law Council of Australia in respect of the Family Law Amendment Bill 2024 (‘FLA Bill’). The FLA Bill focuses on improving consideration of domestic and family violence in property disputes. The submission set out the Law Society’s in principle support for the FLA Bill, which, in our view, effectively builds upon and enhances the framework we supported in our previous submission, in respect of the exposure draft Family Law Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2023, to meet the challenges and complexity of modern family law practice.
The submission provided specific comments aimed at clarity, or at addressing unintended consequences, the two most significant being:
- the inclusion of family violence as a standalone future need factor, as well as a consideration in respect of other factors, may have unintended consequences. The submission expressed concern this may result in the provision being used to punish poor behaviour, thereby creeping towards a fault-based system, and also result in ‘double counting’ family violence as both a contribution and a future need factor; and
- the new provisions in respect of companion animals, which, while aimed at preventing the use of pets to perpetuate family violence, may result in exacerbated conflict and applications filed in respect of companion animals only.
