Further Family Law Reform in Australia: Charting the Way Ahead

Abstract

This paper provides some background to the final report of the Australian Law Reform Commission on reforms to family law and reviews some of the key recommendations. It is argued that while simplification of Part VII of the Act, concerning parenting after separation, will be beneficial, no case has been made out for the wholesale abandonment of the 2006 reforms. The law has an educative role, particularly for those who need some assistance from lawyers and mediators in order to agree upon parenting arrangements. The proposed property reforms are modest, and do not go far enough to inject some principle, coherence and order into the law; however, they are a good start. Some refinements are proposed. The case management proposals have real potential to address unethical adversarial conduct by a minority of lawyers. It is argued that it is important that the family law profession engage constructively with the proposals. The position that few if any reforms are needed is an untenable one. Working to implement beneficial change will be better than having less well-thought out proposals thrust upon the profession.