New Amendments to the Family Law Act: What Parents Need to Know
A major overhaul of Australia’s family law system took effect on May 6 2024, introducing a fresh approach to determining parenting arrangements and dealing with child-related matters.
The Family Law Act amendments address:
What the Courts must consider when determining what is in the child’s best interests, and;
How separated parents are to make decisions about major long-term issues for their children.
The amendments primarily relate to parenting matters and do not impact financial-only proceedings.
By simplifying the family law process and prioritising safety for vulnerable children and caregivers, the new laws aim to provide greater clarity and protection for families navigating the complexities of separation and co-parenting.
My team and I are here to help you understand the changes and how they may impact you and your family. Dive into the changes below and what they could mean for you.
What is changing?
Simpler Parenting Laws
The objective of the new parenting laws is simple and clear: to ensure children’s best interests, including their safety, are met.
Gone is the long list of 16 factors to be considered when determining a child’s best interests, which were complex and confusing. Instead, only six simple factors will be considered.
These six factors are:
The child (including any history of family violence and family violence orders);
The child’s views;
The developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs of the child;
The capacity of each person who will be responsible for the child to provide for the child’s developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs;
The benefit to the child of having a relationship with their parents, and other people who are significant to them (e.g. grandparents and siblings), and
Anything else that is relevant to the safety of the child and people who care for the child.
A seventh factor, if a child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, protects the child’s right to enjoy their connections and culture.
These are significant and welcome changes that should go some considerable way to protecting the safety not only of children but also of their caregivers, who often continue to experience family violence beyond separation when trying to navigate and negotiate all sorts of child-related matters.
Safer Parenting Laws
Parenting arrangements will now actively promote the safety of the child AND each caregiver, in an effort to shield victims from exposure to family violence, in the best interests of the child.
A child’s best interests, with a focus of safety, stands as the primary consideration from the outset in the newly amended laws.
These reforms signify a significant stride in safeguarding vulnerable families, offering much-needed clarity and protection when navigating post-separation challenges, particularly in cases involving family violence and coercive control.
Courts will now be required to assess whether there is a history of family violence when determining parental decision-making responsibility and care arrangements for children. This measure aims to protect children from spending time with a violent parent.
Involving the child in decision-making
The new laws require consideration of each child’s point-of-view and individual needs.
Children have a right to be heard and to have input into decision-making about their care arrangements. Sustainable and successful post-separation parenting arrangements are more likely to be achieved when the child is involved.
Every child is unique and has specific needs, whether due to age, health, certain attributes, routines, culture, or other reasons. It is essential to consider these needs on an individual child basis, and to consider the wants expressed by each child before making a decision.
‘Safety’ is the defining factor of relationship between the child and both parents
The new reforms recognise that the safety of each child must be prioritised over the benefit of having a relationship with a parent.
There needs to be a consideration of the benefit to a child of being able to have a relationship with parents and other people (like grandparents) PROVIDED IT IS SAFE TO DO SO.
Capacity to care for the child and meet their needs
The amendments call for the Court to consider closely a parent’s ability to provide for a child’s past and present needs.
This includes whether a parent can adequately meet the child’s developmental, psychological, emotional, and cultural needs, and whether the parent is doing anything to improve their capacity.
The end of ‘Equal Shared Parental Responsibility’
The concepts of ‘equal shared parental responsibility’, ‘equal time’ and ‘significant and substantial time’ no longer form part of the Family Law Act’s terminology.
It will no longer be assumed from the outset that the parents have equal shared parental responsibility, and therefore, the Court will not presume that decisions must be made jointly by both parents.
It will be up to the Court, or the parents if they agree, to allocate responsibility for decision-making about major long-term issues like education, health, and religion.
The need to reach decisions jointly has been highly problematic, particularly in cases where there is a history of family violence, especially coercive control, by one parent toward the other.
The starting point for considering spending time arrangements is not 50/50, nor is it significant and substantial time. The starting point is what is in the child’s best interests?
The urgency for reform in Australia’s family law system has never been more pressing.
Alarming new statistics released by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) show almost half the women who were victims of a homicide in the last financial year were killed by a former or current intimate partner.
This recent uptick in the homicide rate, alongside a sharp rise in women killed in the first four months of 2024, underscores the stark reality of domestic violence in Australian households.
According to the AIC Report:
Eleven more women have been killed as a result of gender-based violence so far in 2024 compared to last year.
The rate of intimate partner homicide involving a female victim increased by 28 per cent between 2021-22 and 2022-23;
Of the 75 women killed in this period, 34 — or 49 per cent — of them were killed by a current or former intimate partner;
All of those current or former partners were male.
Understanding the changes and seeking appropriate support will help parents confidently navigate this transition and build a brighter future for their families.
If you want to know more about these changes and how they may impact you and your family, please do not hesitate to contact my team and I using the contact information below. We look forward to speaking with you.