Legislation and Law
Listed here are links to Family Law legislation, Parliamentarians, and reported Cases. Also references to Constitutional arguments, the History of the Family Court and discussions regarding class actions against the government for perceived wrongs and failings.
FAMILY LAW ACT 1975
The full Family Law Act and other Acts related to Family Law Proceedings
Section 121 refers to restrictions on publication of court proceedings.
Part VII refers to parenting and children.
Judgments of the Family Court of Australia and links to relevant family law legislation
Family Court of Australia Judgments
Recent Full Court and First Instance judgments of the Family Court are published on this web site for a period of two months. They are published concurrently on the AustLII web site and are available permanently from that site. Selected judgments from 1988 onwards are also available from the AustLII web site.
Federal Magistrates Court of Australia
Australasian Legal Information Institute
This database contains those full text decisions of the Family Court of Australia from 1988 as selected by the Family Court as suitable for publication because of their value as legal precedents.
Many of the experiences noted in the various submissions on this web site are not from published decisions. They are the actual courtroom experience of the litigants. There is no onus on Family Court judges to follow any of the decisions of their predecessors, they are only used as a guide and a basis for argument in the adversarial system.
The decisions make for interesting reading due to the complexity of the legal argument, the manner in which decisions are reached and what weight is given to evidence and opinions in reaching a decision. This reasoning can perhaps be of use for the layperson to understand the difficulty of presenting evidence that will 'prove' a point or otherwise. It also shows that without sufficient funds to pay for competent legal assistance, a protective parent will have no chance of success against a person who has funds (often supplied by Legal Aid) to ensure the safety of the child at risk.
Court bans fathers use of belt to smack son
27th March 2007, 6:30 WST
A father has lost a legal battle with his former wife for the right to discipline their 10 year old son physically in a case that raises doubts about the legal rights of parents to smack their children. The father argued at a trial in the WA Family Court that he was entitled to discipline his son any way he considered appropriate and that for the court to prevent him from doing so was unwarranted interference with his parental rights. But in a judgment delivered before his retirement last month, WA Family Court chief judge Michael Holden told the father: That is a view I do not share. Justice Holden ordered the father not to inflict any physical discipline on his son and told the father it was glaringly obvious he could repair his strained relationship with his son by refraining from physically disciplining him.
FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 - SECT 121
Restriction on publication of court proceedings
(1) A person who publishes in a newspaper or periodical publication, by radio broadcast or television or by other electronic means , or otherwise disseminates to the public or to a section of the public by any means, any account of any proceedings , or of any part of any proceedings under this Act that identifies:
(a) a party to the proceedings
(b) a person who is related to, or associated with, a party to the proceedings or is, or is alleged to be, in any other way concerned in the matter to which the proceedings relate; or
(c) a witness in the proceedings ;
is guilty of an offence punishable, upon conviction by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year...
FAMILY COURT WEB SITE
User friendly site - down load forms for Court applications, advice and fact sheets.
The Federal Parliament's power to make laws about marriage and divorce
The Federal Parliament has the power to make laws for the whole of Australia, but only in relation to specific subject matter. The Australian Constitution defines these powers.
The Parliament derives its power to make laws about marriage, divorce and matrimonial causes from s 51 (xx) and s 51 (xxi) of the Constitution.
Prior to 1959 there were varying state laws about divorce. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 (Cth) introduced the first uniform divorce laws for Australia, however it dealt only with situations where spouses were seeking what is known as "principal relief", for example a divorce or declaration of nullity of marriage.
OTHER SUBJECT HEADINGS:
The Players
Evidence and Discretion
Legislation and Law
Venues
Self Representation
Family Court Decisions