FAMILY LAW COUNCIL
ANNUAL REPORT
2006–07
ISSN: 0155-2953
ISBN: 1 921241 27 6
© Commonwealth of Australia 2007
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney-General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca
For information about this report, or more generally about the Council’s work, please contact the Council’s Secretariat at:
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
Phone 02 6234 4829
Fax 02 6234 4811
Or visit the Council’s website at http://www.law.gov.au/flc. This report is also available electronically at http://www.ag.gov.au/flc/annualreports.
FAMILY LAW COUNCIL
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
Telephone: 02 6234 4829
Fax: 02 6234 4811
11 September 2007
The Hon Philip Ruddock MP
Attorney-General
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Attorney-General
In accordance with subsection115(9) of the Family Law Act 1975, I present to you the Annual Report of the Family Law Council for the period of 1July2006 to 30June2007.
The report was prepared under the chairmanship of Professor Patrick Parkinson and approved by the Family Law Council at its last meeting in Darwin on 27 July 2007.
Professor Parkinson’s period as chairperson expired on 16 August 2007 and the Council is currently without a chairperson.
Yours sincerely,
Rosa Saladino
Director of Research
Family Law Council Secretariat
Council members, observers and staff in July 2007
Seated (left to right): MsNickyDavies, MsDianneGibson, MsAngelaFilippello.
Front row standing (left to right): DeputyChiefJusticeJohnFaulks, MsRuthWeston, FederalMagistrateRobynSexton, MsYvonneMarsh, MsSuePurdon, MrKymDuggan.
Back row standing (left to right): MrStephenStill, MsJacquelineMenyhart, MsRosaSaladino, JusticeGarryWatts, ProfessorPatrickParkinson, MrClivePrice, PrincipalRegistrarDavidMonaghan, MsAmandaParkin, FederalMagistrateNorahHartnett, MrJohnMathieson.
Missing from the photo: MsLaniBlackman
Contents
Contents 5
1. Year in Review 6
2. Organisational structure 8
3. Meetings and Consultations 12
4. Advice to the AttorneyGeneral 15
5. Implementation of Recommendations 18
6. Financial Report 21
Appendix A: Council Publications 22
Appendix B: Council Committees 2006–07 25
Appendix C: Compliance with Annual Report Guidelines 31
Index 35
1. Year in Review
This year has seen developments of great interest in the family law sphere in Australia. The Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006 (Shared Parental Responsibility Act) came into force on 1 July 2006. 40 of the 65 planned Family Relationship Centres have opened in towns and cities around Australia. Rollout of the new Children’s Contact Services and Early Intervention Services has continued apace.[1] Moreover, the requirement for compulsory certificates of family dispute resolution as a prerequisite for the filing of all new parenting matters (subject to certain exceptions) came into force on 1July2007.
The institutional changes have been matched by significant legislative reform principally effected by the Shared Parental Responsibility Act but also through amendments to the Child Support Legislation. Judgments such as the Family Court of Australia’s decision on appeal in Goode v Goode[2] have emphasised the significance of the 2006 reforms to the legal framework. Family law continues to be an area of great debate in the Australian community, with national controversy over issues including surrogacy, adoption, and civil unions highlighting the continuing interest that the community has in family law matters.
In this changing landscape, the Family Law Council has contributed to law reform initiatives of other bodies by making submissions on matters of family law in addition to its own work. On 26March2007, the Council wrote to the Australian Law Reform Commission to raise some issues for consideration in their enquiry into the Privacy Act. In addition, the Family Law Council engaged in significant consultation throughout the year with the Attorney-General’s Department on the proposed Family Law Amendment (De-Facto Financial Resources and Other Measures) Bill 2007, and provided feedback on some possible improvements to a number of provisions in the Bill.
In accordance with its statutory functions under section 115(3) of the Family Law Act1975, the Council provided advice to the Attorney-General on matters relating to family law. Council provided a letter of advice on the recommendations made in Council’s 2000 report Litigants in Person to the Attorney-General on 13 December 2006. Council also provided comment to the Attorney-General on the Children with Intellectual Disabilities (Regulation of Sterilisation) Bill 2006 on 6 December 2006.
Following discussions about international child support at its meeting in Parramatta in August 2006, Council wrote to the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and to the New Zealand Child Support Agency to bring to their attention the issue of currency fluctuations on international child support arrangements. As a result a dialogue has commenced between Australia and New Zealand to address this issue. On 14December2006, Council wrote a letter to the Attorney-General raising some concerns about practitioner accreditation in the context of family dispute resolution.
In addition to the matters set out above, the Council released a number of reports and discussion papers. In February2007, the Council released a report on collaborative law, entitled Collaborative practice in family law, to a very warm reception. In May2007, the Council released the discussion paper The Answer from an Oracle: arbitrating family law property and financial matters for public consultation. This paper was circulated to 600 individuals and organisations. The paper requested submissions be made by the end of August2007. In June2007, the Council released its latest Statistical Snapshot of Family Law, covering the period from 2003 to 2005.
The Council met in its plenary sessions 4 times over the past twelve months. As in previous years, the Council used these opportunities to discuss topical themes on family law and to meet with other experts in family law throughout Australia. A more detailed report of each of these meetings is set out in part 3. These meetings allow the judiciary, the legal profession and other family law experts to address Council members and raise issues of concern or explain particular State initiatives.
The Council’s most important work is carried out in its committees. At present the Council has three active committees exploring various aspects of family law. These committees enable the Council to take advantage of expertise in particular areas of family law. The work of the committees is fundamental to the production of Council’s discussion papers, letters of advice and reports. The committees are chaired by a member of Council and range in size from three to eight members. Committee meetings are generally held via teleconferences but from time to time face to face meetings are arranged.
The Council’s current committees are as follows.
· Arbitration committee
· Improving post-parenting order processes committee
· Family violence committee.
A more detailed report of the activities of these committees is set out in Appendix B.
In addition Council has a number of working groups which monitor particular aspects of family law. Currently there are two working groups. The Statistical Snapshot working group, which is chaired by one of the Council’s observers, is responsible for producing the biennial Statistical Snapshot of Family Law. The child support working group maintains a watching brief on child support matters.
Council currently has 3 references from the Attorney-General. No new references were received in this financial year.
2. Organisational structure
Council members
Members of the Family Law Council are appointed by the Attorney-General under subsection115(2) of the Family Law Act. Appointment is for a period of up to 3 years and members may be re-appointed.
The Family Law Act does not specify the number of members of Council. However, it does require that amongst a range of other members, a Judge of the Family Court be appointed. Other judges, including Federal Magistrates, may also be appointed. Section 115(11) specifies that for the purpose of that section, a Federal Magistrate is taken to be a judge. The Council has usually comprised the Chairperson and nine or ten members. It has been the policy of successive governments that, as far as is reasonably practicable, there should be an equal number of women and men on Council with as wide as possible geographical representation of the various Australian States and Territories.
Over the last 12 months, two members of the Council have completed their terms of appointment. These are the Honourable SusanMorgan, retired Judge of the Family Court of Australia and Federal Magistrate ChristineMead. Council thanks these members for their services and welcomes FederalMagistrates RobynSexton and NorahHartnett who were appointed in February of this year. Council also welcomes back Deputy Chief Justice Faulks who was also appointed in February. DCJ Faulks has previously been a member and chairperson of the Council. MrKymDugganPSM was also reappointed to the Council for a new three year term.
Name / Position / Date of current appointment / Expiry of current termProfessor Patrick Parkinson / Faculty of Law
University of Sydney
Sydney, New South Wales / 18 August 2004 / 17 August 2007
Ms Nicola Davies / Senior Legal Consultant
Family Law
Legal Aid Queensland / 7 October 2004 / 6 October 2007
Mr Kym Duggan / Assistant Secretary
Family Law Branch AttorneyGeneral's Department
Canberra, Aust. Capital Territory / 20 February 2007 / 19 February 2010
Deputy Chief Justice John Faulks / Family Court of Australia
Canberra, Aust. Capital Territory / 20 February 2007 / 19 February 2010
Federal Magistrate Norah Hartnett / Federal Magistrates Court
Melbourne, Victoria / 20 February 2007 / 19 February 2010
Federal Magistrate Christine Mead / Federal Magistrates Court
Adelaide, South Australia / 1 December 2003 / 30 November 2006
The Honourable Susan Morgan / Retired Judge
Family Court of Australia
Melbourne, Victoria / 1 December 2003 / 30 November 2006
Mr Clive Price / Executive Director
UnitingCare Unifam
Sydney, New South Wales / 7 October 2004 / 6 October 2007
Ms Susan Purdon / Hopgood Ganim Lawyers Brisbane, Queensland / 1 September 2004 / 31 August 2007
Federal Magistrate Robyn Sexton / Federal Magistrates Court
Sydney, New South Wales / 20 February 2007 / 19 February 2010
Justice Garry Watts / Family Court of Australia
Sydney, New South Wales / 1 September 2004 / 31 August 2007
Observers
There are no provisions in the Family Law Act relating to the appointment of observers on Council. However, Council currently has observers from seven agencies who may attend meetings.
Council’s observers play an important part in the management of Council’s workload. Observers participate fully in Council discussions. However, in the event that a decision cannot be made by consensus, the matter is decided by Council members alone. In addition to providing information about the interests and activities of their organisations and maintaining links between Council and the organisations concerned, the observers make a significant contribution to the work of Council committees.
There have been some changes to observers during the year. The following observers attended Council meetings during the year.
Organisation / NameAustralian Institute of Family Studies / Dr Bruce Smyth
Ms Ruth Weston
Australian Law Reform Commission / Ms Lani Blackman
Ms Megan Caristo
Child Support Agency / Ms Yvonne Marsh
Ms Dolores Schneider
Ms Zoe Cameron
Family Court of Australia / Ms Angela Filippello
Ms Dianne Gibson
Ms Teresa Kane
Family Court of Western Australia / Mr David Monaghan
Federal Magistrates Court of Australia / Mr John Mathieson
Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia / Ms Maurine Pyke
Mr Geoff Sinclair
Council staff
The Attorney-General’s Department provides Council with resources, including staff. Council’s Secretariat is a Section of the Family Law Branch of the Attorney-General's Department. The functions of the Secretariat are to
· provide policy advice, research services and drafting assistance to Council, especially in the performance of its functions under section 115 of the Family Law Act
· provide secretarial, administrative and other support services to Council, especially in relation to meetings of Council and Council committees and in the drafting and production of Council’s reports, discussion papers, letters of advice and other material, and
· manage Council’s annual budget.
Secretariat staff are employed by the Attorney-General’s Department in accordance with the Attorney-General’s Department Agreement 2004, a certified agreement made under section170LK of the Workplace Relations Act 1996. Secretariat Staff are subject to the Department’s disability strategy, human resource management and development measures. No staff were employed under an Australian Workplace Agreement during this financial year. Information on the Department’s equal opportunity program, occupational health and safety policy, fraud control plan and prevention procedures and environmental protection activities is available in the Department’s annual report.
The current permanent Secretariat staffing profile comprises the Director of Research (Senior Legal Officer), a Legal Officer (APSLevel3–6) and a shared Administrative Officer (APSLevel3). Salary ranges are consistent with the certified agreement and no performance payments were made during the year. From time to time the permanent Secretariat staff are supplemented by temporary staff, including graduates.
The following persons were employed at the Secretariat during this financial year:
Name Position Dates
Ms Rosa Saladino Director of Research from 26 June 2006
Ms Jacqueline Menyhart Legal Officer from 26March2007
Mr James Mueller Administrative Officer from 29January2007
Mr Stephen Still Legal Officer from 11December2006
Ms Jennifer Wilcock Temporary Administrative Officer from 25May2007
Ms Roweena Singh Research Officer from 21 March 2006 to 29September2006
Ms Jessica Mackay Graduate from 5 June 2006 to 29September2006
Mr Luke Allard Administrative Officer from 5 June 2006 to 23October2006
Ms Mariana Opperman Law Student from 24 August 2006 to 24November2006
Ms Gemma Baron Temporary Administrative Officer from 27 November 2006 to 25January2007
Ms Dianne Bramich Graduate from 9 October 2006 to 26January2007
Ms Samantha Chung Summer Clerk from 27 November 2006 to 16February2007