For More on the Latest Information on the Sector, Please See Below

e-NewsletterJune 2015

Hi All,

For more on the latest information on the sector, please see below.

Upcoming CQFLPN Training Events

Forensic Family Assessment Training. Places available.

The Child Dispute Services of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia in conjunction with the Central Queensland Family Law Pathway Network will be conducting a training program in forensic family assessments in Rockhampton on the 24th and 25th June 2015 at the Parish Centre (St Joseph’s Cathedral grounds), 169 William Street.

Enquiries to: David HugallPh: 07 32482315

Email:

The Standards for Family Assessment – info and networking. Places available.

CQFLPN Social, Networking and Learning evening June 24th featuring an Information session on The Standards for Family Assessment presented by David Hugall. Regional Coordinator Child Dispute Services Family Court and Federal Circuit Court. The Parish Centre (St Joseph’s Cathedral grounds), 169 William Street. Building is to the left of the Cathedral when entering from William Street.

Parking to the rear of the Cathedral or along Murray Street. To register attendance please contact Sandy Paton 4939 4504 mobile 0407 178 597

Motivational Interviewing (Introductory) Fully booked

Motivational Interviewing (Introductory) Friday 3rd July: 9:00 registration : 9:30am start break around 10.30 and 12:00pm finish. The Frenchville Sports Club, 105 Clifton St Nth Rockhampton. Please contact Sandy via email r call 4939 4504. Supported by Uniting Care Community, Lifeline, Relationships Australia and CCDA

Motivational Interviewing (Advanced)Fully booked

Motivational Interviewing (Introductory) Thursday 6th August: 9:00 registration : 9:30am start : 3.30pm finish. The Frenchville Sports Club, 105 Clifton St Nth Rockhampton. Please contact Sandy via email r call 4939 4504Supported by Uniting Care Community, Lifeline, Relationships Australia and CCDA.

Information on proposed Family Court fee changes.

Senate moves to strike out new divorce tax :Judith Ireland : The Sydney Morning Herald: June 20th

The Abbott government's planto increase divorce application chargesby $350 from July 1 faces arocky break up of its own: the Greens areconfident they can strike the fee hike down in the Senate.The government announced a range of FederalCircuit, Federaland Family Court fee increasesin the May Budget, including raising the cost of divorce applications from$845 to $1195.Subpoena fees will go up from $55 to $120.

These changes, which have been criticised by lawyersas "cynical" and a "heavy blow to access to justice"are due to raise $87.4 million over four years. Of this, $22.5 millionwill go to "streamlining" the courts, while $30 million will refurbish court buildings.The Greens' legal affairs spokeswoman Penny Wright said it was "completely inappropriate to use family breakdown as a cash cow for the government".

Senator Wright said that divorce applications were very straightforward and usually took only 10minutes each."It is not these cases that are soaking up the court's resources," she said. Attorney-General George Brandistabled a regulation setting out the changesthis week, but the Senate has the power to strike them out and the Greensplan to move a disallowance motion next Tuesday.Labor has been highly critical of the fee increases, and the Greens are confident they will gain the extra four crossbench votes they would alsoneedto stop all the changes from taking effect. To read the complete article please click on The Sydney Morning Herald

Family Court of Australia Court scheduledfee rises & changes from July 1st.

Application for consent orders / $155
Application for declaration as to validity/nullity* / $1195
Initiating application (family law) / $320
Initiating application (children & financial orders) / $530
Response to initiating application (family law) / $320
Interim application / $110
Setting down for hearing fee (defended matter) / $805
Daily hearing fee (for each hearing day, excluding the first hearing day) / $805
Conciliation conference / $370
Issue subpoena / $55
Notice of appeal to full court including an appeal from the Federal Circuit Court / $1270
Application for leave to appeal / $1270
Application under theTrans Tasman Proceedings Act 2010 / $110
Filing an application to register a New Zealand judgment / $100

The Family Court and Federal Circuit Court will now only accept the following types of payment:

• CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER : Should be made payable to the ‘Family Court and Federal Circuit Court’
• CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS (VISA AND MASTERCARD): in person or by mail
• DEBIT CARD OTHER THAN VISA OR MASTERCARD: Only accepted if paid in person

Credit card payment form

You may need this form when making a payment.

This form must be included with any mailed application or request when you pay by credit card. Please do not fax this form unless you have been directly requested to do so by the Court.

The Credit card payment form is available on the forms page.

PLEASE NOTE:

• GST does NOT apply to any of the fees
• * In some cases a reduced fee may be sought for a divorce application, or decree of nullity, or in respect of other fees, an exemption if you hold certain government concession cards or you can demonstrate financial hardship.
• Where there is more than one applicant to an application, all applicants must meet the requirements for an exemption/reduction or the full fee applies

Hague Convention on Child Abduction – Australia and the Republic of Korea. Extract from Media Release

The Hague Child Abduction Convention protects children from the harm caused by international child abduction. It provides a legal mechanism to ensure that children who are wrongfully removed from, or retained outside, their country of habitual residence, by a parent, guardian or caregiver are returned as quickly as possible to that country. This ensures that long-term care and welfare of children can be resolved by the courts in the child’s country of habitual residence.

The Convention also allows parents to make an application to seek assistance to contact their child living overseas with the other parent, where rights of access have been breached.

The entry into force of the Hague Convention with the Republic of Korea will provide a legal mechanism for Australians to resolve international parental abduction and access cases involving the Republic of Korea.

The Australian Attorney-General’s Department has the lead role in legal issues surrounding the alleged abduction of minors from Australia. People seeking more information about making an application under the Hague Convention can visit or contact the International Social Service Australia on 1300 657 843. International Social Service Australia is funded by the Government to provide free legal assistance to members of the public to complete an application under the Hague Convention.

National Outcome Standards on Perpetrator Interventions

On 28 May Dr Erin Mackay, Research Manager (ANROWS), met withKate Costello, Rowena Freeland and Jillian Kempton from the Department of Social Services to discuss the development of the National Outcome Standards on Perpetrator Interventions. The outcome standards are currently being co-designed with Australian states and territories. The Perpetrator Interventions Research Stream, currently being developed by ANROWS, will support the implementation of these outcome standards.

Disputed date of separation - does the court have jurisdiction?

Michael Lynch Lawyers Family Flyer. Issue 247

For defacto couples that separate after 1 March, 2009 their property settlement cases are now heard under the Family Law Act. The significance of this change has created much dispute regarding 'dates of separation'. A recent case considered the 'date of separation'.

• The applicant wife, alleged that the relationship had broken down in March 2011. She filed an application in August 2012, seeking a payment of $90,000 from her former defacto husband to relieve her of a debt

• The respondent (defacto) husband alleged that separation occurred in late 2007 "under one roof", prior to the Family Court having jurisdiction to hear defacto property settlement matters. He therefore sought for the application to be dismissed.

• In support of his 'date of separation' he alleged, the following:
• That he consulted a solicitor about parenting matters in March 2008, and was provided with a grant of legal aid shortly thereafter.
• Centrelink forms completed by the applicant wife that listed the parties as 'separated under one roof' and listed the date of separation as February 2009.
• An application for consent orders signed by both parties when seeking parenting orders that listed the date of separation as 12 February 2008.
• The applicant wife did not dispute that she signed the forms, but alleged that she had done so only at the respondent's insistency and due to domestic violence. The applicant however, did not provide any evidence to the court to support these claims.

• The application for property settlement was dismissed on the basis that separation had occurred prior to 1 March, 2009 and the Family Court had no jurisdiction. Sourced: Family Flyer 247

Service Information

Changes to Centrelink Online accounts from July 1st

myGov will soon be the only way customers can access their Centrelink online account. Once a customer has created a myGov account, they can link their Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support online accounts within their myGov account.

myGov is a simple and secure way to access a range of Australian Government services online including: Centrelink, Medicare, Child Support, the Australian Taxation Office, Personally Controlled eHealth Records, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Customers who use myGov need only one username and password to access all of their accounts. Detailed guides and information on myGov can be found on humanservices.gov.au/myGov.

Customers can also ask us questions about myGov on Twitter @mygovau or subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch instructional videos at youtube.com/mygovau.

The myGov factsheet has been translated into multiple languages.

Child and Youth Mental Health Service Training

Diversity: Mental distress and well being in three groups of young people: Room 3 Community Health Building Bolsover St. Registration 8am.Start 8.15 – finish 4pm

Mod 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Mod 2: Same Sex Attracted (SSA)

Mod 3. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)

Mod 4. Introduction to Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A), including its use in these three populations.

This training is FREE but with limited places. EOIs will be considered and applicants will be notified of their success. Pre-course Reading is required. To register an EOI please email before 24th August.

Reminder: The FRC has moved.

The Family Relationship Centre (FRC) in Rockhampton has relocated from 36 East Street to 10 Bolsover St – where it is co-located with the CentacareCQ office.For more information, please call 1300 783 544.

News

DV victim speaks out: raped, tortured and battered: Claire Morton: The Queensland Times: June 20th

LANI Brennan can still hear her dad's Commodore come flying up the main drag.

"He went up the gutter and nearly went straight into the police shop and he jumped out tearing. "He saw the state that I was in. He and my ex had words and then my father dragged me to the police station of all places. "For my father to drag me to the police station that was a huge move, because he didn't trust them." That day in 2000 marked Lani Brennan's final escape from an abusive, violent relationship which saw her raped, tortured and battered for months on end. To read the complete article please click on QT

Bench Book to help judges with DV case consistency: ShereleMoody : The Queensland Times: June 19th

AN online guide will set the benchmark for every Australian judge presiding over domestic violence cases. The Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration and the University of Queensland are developing the Family Violence Bench Book that will be the must-have resource for federal, state and territory judges. The guide will take more than two years to complete and is expected to cover comprehensively civil and criminal laws relating to family violence across every jurisdiction.

It will also promote best practice and consistency in judicial decision making regarding domestic violence. The Bench Book was a recommendation of the 2010 Family Violence - A National Legal Response report complied by the Australian Law Reform Commission and the New South Wales Law Reform Commission.

Attorney-General George Brandis said judges, legal practitioners and academics would inform the content.

"The current prevalence of family violence in Australia is utterly unacceptable," Senator Brandis said. "It is fundamental that women and their families are safe from violence in their homes and communities and we remain absolutely committed to ensuring we reduce and ultimately end domestic violence." The guide is expected to go online in June 2017. To read the complete article please click on QT

Tattooed mother has court breastfeeding ban overturned on appeal :Bridie Jabour: The Guardian June 19th

A woman who was banned by a court from breastfeeding because she was tattooed has had the injunction overturned, with the Family Court finding the original judge “surfed the web” for evidence.The family court in Sydney found the judge who made the original decision, federal circuit court judge Matthew Myers, was relying on his own opinion rather than objective facts.

Myers originally wanted to stop the mother, known as Ms Jackson, from breastfeeding because she had postnatal depression but he could not do so on a legal basis.Instead, he went looking for an evidence based reason, according to the court, and made an injunction against the mother breastfeeding because he said there was a risk she could have contracted pass HIV or hepatitis through the tattoo and pass them on to her child.

“Judges must not mistake their own views for facts for appropriately qualified evidence,” justice Robert Aldridge said during his decision which the other two judges agreed with. To read the complete article please click on The Guardian

Why are we means testing legal help for Domestic Violence victims?:Jenna Price: DailyLife: June 4th

The Federal Government is once again punishing victims of domestic violence with the toughest measures it has ever imposed on women seeking legal help.In a shock move just days after this year's federal budget, community legal centres learned they would be compelled to means test those in need of legal support. Eight months of consultation were pushed aside to make way for just one measure to get help – financial hardship.

Gone were categories such as the risk of physical violence. Gone from the list were Indigenous women seeking support or people at risk of homelessness. The only thing which matters now is money.The Australian of the Year Rosie Batty is despairing of the decision."I don't know what their long term strategy is. I don't know where I can take this or have a formal discussion," she said.

"I don't think they are a consultative type of government... they should have a better understanding of what it's like to feel financially pressured and going through a terrible situation." To read the complete article please click on DailyLife

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Court Decisions of Interest

Appeals Judgement

Redmond & Stolz [2015] FamCAFC 109

12 June 2015

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Where the appellant father seeks leave to file an application for adjournment of the appeal proceedings – Basis for application his mental health, desire to obtain legal advice and transcript of proceedings before primary judge – Where the father's application in an appeal is filed out of time – Where the Full Court was especially convened for the urgent hearing of the matter – If the appeal were to be adjourned the father may take action under s 65ZB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) to frustrate the orders allowing the mother to travel with the child – Where the appellant is unable to demonstrate prejudice if he is required to argue the appeal without written submissions – Leave to file application granted – Application in an appeal dismissed.

Redmond & Stolz (No. 2) [2015] FamCAFC 110

12 June 2015

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – CHILDREN – Where the father appeals from orders of the trial judge that permit the child to travel with the mother outside Australia and restrain the father from acting to cause the Australian Federal Police to place the child's name on the family law watch list, pursuant to s 68B(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) – Where the father appeals from orders of the trial judge dismissing his application for discharge of the Independent Children's Lawyer – Where the order pursuant to s 68B(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) does not interfere with any legitimate right of the father, and was designed to prevent the father from frustrating the orders of the Court – Where the trial judge carefully considered the father's concerns regarding the conduct of the Independent Children's Lawyer and addressed those concerns in his reasons – Appeal dismissed – Orders made by reference to s 121 Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) allowing the mother to publish the orders and reasons for judgment to any person necessary to facilitate the child's travel.