This submission is being made by The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW).

NFAW is dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of Australian women, including intellectual, cultural, political, social, economic, legal, industrial and domestic spheres, and ensuring that the aims and ideals of the women’s movement and its collective wisdom are handed on to new generations of women. NFAW is a feminist organisation, independent of party politics and working in partnership with other women’s organisations.

The Family Law system affects women and men in different ways; it is not gender neutral. This submission responds to the terms of reference through a gender lens.

Recommendations:

1. The Government should be requested to respond to the recommendations of the ALRC and this response should be included in the deliberations of the Committee.
2. The Parliamentary Committee should consider and refer to the recommendations of the ALRC Review of the Family Law System before making further recommendations.
3. All members participating in this Parliamentary Inquiry should be required to participate in family violence training to ensure that they understand the context within which Family Court matters are determined.
4. The ALRC recommendation to establish Family Courts in all state and territory jurisdictions should be considered.
5. Information sharing systems between all state and territory jurisdictions must be developed and implemented.
6. The proposal to merge the Family Court with the Federal Circuit Court should be abandoned
7. Funding for the Family Court is inadequate, and must be increased to ensure that the Court can deal with matters in a timely manner.
8. Legal assistance and other support services, including services available for interventions, need to be adequately funded to ensure that all parties, not just those with resources to fund legal assistance, have access to justice; including but not limited to: a. the National Partnership on Family Advocacy and Support Services. b. the Health Justice Partnerships. c. Legal Centres specialising in financial abuse establish a partnership with financial institutions to develop training materials to recognise and address financial abuse.
9. The recommendations of the ALRC in respect of a presumption of equal contributions in property matters be endorsed, subject to the Court being able to make adjustments where the outcome is manifestly unjust.
10. Division of superannuation be simplified by:

•  a. Ensuring that the ATO is able to disclose details of superannuation holdings to the Family Court
• b. Reviewing the circumstances in which a superannuation “flagging” order is allowed
• c. Allowing the appointment of an independent trustee to a self-managed superannuation fund where required to ensure the preservation of assets.

 

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