Family Law Amendment Bill (part one) 2023

On the 19^th of October 2023 the Family Law Amendment Bill (part one) passed in Parliament. It is set to take effect in May 2024.

This bill is set to bring significant and wide-reaching changes to the Family Law Act; changes that will have a big impact on both our work and on outcomes for our clients who are victim survivors of family violence. While there are some positive changes in the Bill – such as the removal of the presumption of Equal Shared Parental Responsibility – we are concerned that safety is no longer prioritised in the best interest factors.

For almost two decades Women’s Legal Service NSW has been leading advocacy work for reform of the Family Law Act. Our team have written multiple submissions, open letters and media articles; provided evidence and case studies at hearings; spoken at inter-agency committee meetings; listened to and lobbied with frontline community service providers; reported to government bodies and much more.

We have commenced a wide-spread program of community education, engagement and discussion about how we can best make use of the new provisions to ensure evidence of family violence is presented clearly and explicitly before the court and given appropriate weight.

As a free legal service deeply committed to helping women and children stay safe as they navigate the Family Law system, we are determined to ensure that our communities and networks receive the information and guidance they need to make sense of these amendments.

Resources for community workers and generalist lawyers

• Ask Lois webinar: Making Sense of the Family Law Amendment Bill (parenting)
  broadcast Wednesday 1 November 2023
• Law Society Journal Article: Is it safe enough? Changes to the Family Law Act
  published Friday 8 December 2023

Background reading for legal practitioners:

• Read our submissions
• Watch our evidence to the Senate Inquiry

Presentation for Women’s Legal Services Australia

• Making Sense of the Family Law Amendment Act – Tuesday 5 December, 2023 (password required to view this presentation)

Please help fund our community education project!

At WLSNSW we are dedicated to creating and distributing comprehensive information and guidance for our clients and the community in general. We are a leading provider of community legal education and easy-access information in printed, online and in-person formats. However we are not funded to do this work, and we are running an appeal to help meet these costs.

Please make your tax deductible donation today!

Register for events and training

• For Family Law Practitioners: Family Law CPD Day – Saturday 16 March 2024
• For Community Workers – March 2024