Scott Morrison announces inquiry into family law system

The “awful human mess” of the family law system will be the subject of a new inquiry.

“There are blokes who are victims, there are women who are victims, and most tragically there are children who are victims,” said the PM. Picture: AAP

The “awful human mess” of the family law system will be the subject of a new inquiry, which will examine judges’ powers to ensure litigants tell the truth and ways to rein in excessive legal bills.

The inquiry, announced by Scott Morrison on Tuesday, will also look at its impact on children, issues for grandparents and options to lift the performance of family lawyers, report writers and other experts.

The new review is a win for key crossbench senator Pauline Hanson, who said she had delivered on her election promise to establish an inquiry and would keep pushing for reform.

However, domestic violence advocates said urgent change was needed to improve the system rather than another review.

The inquiry, to be headed by former Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews, comes less than six months after the Australian Law Reform Commission handed the government a 574-page report into the family law system. The Morrison government has yet to respond to it.

The Prime Minister said he was not interested in the politics of family law and wanted to work with Labor and the crossbench.

“There are blokes who are victims, there are women who are victims, and most tragically there are children who are victims. It’s just an awful human mess,” he told the Coalition party room.

“The reason to do a joint select committee is to able to truly listen to the stories and evidence it can bring forward in a sensible, apartisan way.”

Senator Hanson told supporters on her Facebook page she wanted “to give everyone the opportunity to have their say” and she hoped at the end it would produce reforms that “meet the expectations of the people”.

The inquiry is expected to take a year and will involve Liberal, Labor and crossbench MPs.

Mr Andrews told the Coalition party room the topic would be “sensitive and difficult” and that he was first involved in family law reform efforts under John Howard.

“These issues have been debated for a long time … it is always very difficult for laws to deal with human issues, and keep up with these human issues,” Mr Andrews said.

Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses SC said there was no doubt the family law system was “broken” and plagued by “systemic failures”. He said it had been underfunded by successive governments, resulting in long delays for suffering families, which is why the Law Council welcomed a thorough inquiry.

He called on the government to guarantee it would not press ahead with its “flawed” bid to merge the Family Court with the lower-level Federal Circuit Court while the inquiry was underway.

However, Mr Morrison said the government would reintroduce the bill to merge the two courts before the end of the year.

Women’s Safety NSW chief executive Hayley Foster questioned the motives for the inquiry, which was a “slap in the face” after it had shared stories of those devastated by the system with MPs in Canberra this week.

“We have had numerous investigations into the family law system over the past 10 years, all of which have come to the same conclusion — it is failing to provide safe and just outcomes for women and children experiencing family violence and abuse,” she said.

“We know what we need to make the family law system safer. We just need the political will to make it happen.”

She said it was a “significant concern” the inquiry would be chaired by Mr Andrews and possibly co-chaired by Senator Hanson.

“Kevin Andrews has been very public about his values in relation to divorce … (and) Pauline Hanson has been a long-term advocate for fringe men’s rights activist groups,” she said.

As Social Services Minister, Mr Andrews introduced $200 vouchers for marriage counselling, but the scheme was unpopular and eventually scrapped.