Tory Shepherd: Government plans to merge the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court

A FAMILY Court overhaul may speed proceedings but could be at the expense of women fleeing abusive relationships dealing with judges who are not specialists. Tory Shepherd reports.

What’s worse — waiting years to finalise a split from your partner to decide who gets the kids and when?

Or having the whole process shunted through the system faster, meaning it might be heard by a judge who is not a family law specialist and doesn’t quite get what’s going on?

What if there is sexual abuse or violence involved?

In a surprise move earlier this year the Federal Government announced it would merge the Family Court with the Federal Circuit Court.

They are hoping to get the legislation through by the end of the year, although Labor is trying to fend it off until next year so they can gather more information on how it would work.

The Family Court deals with seriously complicated matters including cases involving intimate partner violence.

More families will see a non-family law specialist judge, and those specialist judges will not be replaced as they retire.

Because of the bitter nature of divorce and the heartbreak of fighting for child custody, the court is the focus of venomous arguments.

As the court has been forced to better deal with domestic violence and sexual abuse, it has been targeted by men’s rights groups who accuse it of being biased towards women.

Attorney-General Christian Porter may have sprung open a new battlefront.

Under the changes, from January 1, 2019, the single entity will be known as the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

It sounds like an administrative change. But there are very real practical changes.

More families will see a non-family law specialist judge, and those specialist judges will not be replaced as they retire.

Complicated cases will then be dealt with by judges who don’t have to have specific family law experience.

The Government says it will allow the court to chew through a backlog of more than 20,000 cases.

Mr Porter says having the single entry point will get families through faster and cheaper.

“We need to ensure our courts have the structure, systems and processes in place that allow people to move through the system as quickly as possible so they can move on with their lives,” he said.

“This is most important for children of relationships which have broken down. We cannot allow the court systems’ broken structures to exacerbate delays.”

However some lawyers dispute that it will be a change for the better.

The Law Council of Australia says the family court system is in crisis because of chronic underfunding, while the complexity of issues has increased. That won’t be fixed by these reforms, council president Morry Bailes says.

Others say specialist judges are needed to understand child development, what children need and how conflict can affect them.

They argue that a Price WaterhouseCoopers report that the Government is using as justification just looks at the top-level statistics of getting people through quickly and cheaply, not the messy human world of the courts.

The Opposition has referred the bill to an inquiry and wants the committee to have the chance to consider an Australian Law Reform Commission report into family law, due by March 31.

“Federal Court judges — skilled as they are — do not have specialist expertise in family law matters. And yet, they would be asked to deal with the most complex, difficult and long-running family law cases,” Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said.

In 2012 the then-Labor Government made changes to the Family Court ensuring the safety of children was prioritised over the benefits of having a meaningful relationship with both parents.

The intent was effectively “Hey, it would be great if both parents had access but if one of the parents is violent, they miss out”.

One Nation has led the charge against existing rules.

In her maiden speech, party leader Pauline Hanson said the Family Court should be abolished and replaced with a group of “mainstream” Australians. She said women use the Court to make “frivolous claims” and pushed for a return to the focus on shared parenting.

In that speech, Senator Hanson linked “murders due to sheer frustration and depression and mental illness caused by this unworkable system. “

So that somehow means those people should have more access to their children.

It is the same conversation Australia has been having for more than a decade.

Family law has been the subject of countless reviews and inquiries, and now there are a couple more on the scene.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government is working on its National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children — it has a 2022 deadline.

In Adelaide this week there will be a national summit as the plan enters its fourth and final stage — called “Turning the Corner”.

Over the next few years the plan is supposed to deliver a reduced prevalence of domestic violence, and safer women and children.

The plan will improve access to justice, focus on evidence-based strategies, and Federal Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer says the summit will “bring together community leaders to ensure we can reduce violence against women and their children”.

It is a noble aim, but one that will not help the thousands of families already trapped in the system.

FOR SUPPORT, PHONE 1800 RESPECT (1800 737732) OR THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRISIS LINE ON 1800 800 098.