Evaluation of the Family Law Reforms by the Australian Institute of Family Studies: An online media resource

Media release - 28 January 2010: Evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms finds mixed results

PART ONE: OVERVIEW

1.1 Introduction

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has been undertaking an evaluation of the family law reform package on behalf of the Australian Government since early 2007.

The evaluation focuses on the changes the then government introduced in 2006 that were intended to help separated parents make arrangements for the care of their children more co-operatively than in the past. These changes included new services such as Family Relationship Centres and the Family Relationship Advice Line, and changes to the law.

The AIFS evaluation involves the largest ever study of Australia's family law system. As well as studies involving 12,000 Australian parents, it examines the impact of the legal changes and the new services.

Through this three-year program, the evaluation will provide extensive evidence about the impact of the changes to the family law system. This evidence will look at how the changes have affected families from many different angles.

Such a rigorous evaluation will provide an unbiased, evidence-based analysis.

When completed in late 2009, the evaluation will be delivered to the Australian Government.

1.2 Background

The 2006 reforms were introduced after an inquiry in 2003 by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended changes to the family law system. The Committee was asked by the then Government to consider whether there should be a presumption that children should spend equal time with each parent after separation. The inquiry received some 1700 submissions and held public hearings. It produced a report - Every Picture Tells a Story - which made 29 recommendations for change to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and the family law system more widely.

The inquiry did not recommend a presumption that children should spend equal time with each parent. Rather, it recommended that the 'best interests' of the child should stay as the main criterion for deciding how children should be cared for after separation. But it did say that a number of changes should be made to the law. It recommended two rebuttable presumptions. One was in favour of equal shared parental responsibility. The other was against equal shared parental responsibility in cases where there were reasonable grounds to believe one parent had perpetrated family violence or there were concerns about child abuse.

The then Government considered the recommendations and in 2006 introduced a reform package that included changes to the service delivery system and the law. The main changes to the law included:

In the service delivery system, key changes included the creation of 65 Family Relationship Centres to provide information, advice and dispute resolution services to separated families. In addition, the government funded a free family relationship advice line and website.

One of the issues highlighted by the Every Picture Report was the lack of solid research based evidence about how separation affects children and families, and in particular the long-term impact of orders made by family courts. In part, the decision to fund the AIFS evaluation was aimed at filling this gap in the evidence. In addition, the then Government was concerned to ensure that the impact of the 2006 reforms was evaluated thoroughly and that future policy-making in the family law area could proceed on the basis of rigorously collected and analysed data. Accordingly, the Federal Government, through the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), commissioned AIFS to undertake the evaluation in 2006.

PART TWO: THE EVALUATION

The evaluation is made up of three main projects, each of which includes a number of separate studies.

All of the main organisations in the family law sector, including the Child Support Agency, the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Magistrates Court, and organisations that provide relationship services, such as Relationships Australia, Unifam and Centacare have co-operated in the evaluation. However, the design of the studies and the collection and analysis of data have been conducted independently by AIFS to ensure rigorous and systematic data collection. The scope of the evaluation was agreed between AIFS, the Attorney-General's Department and FaHCSIA.

Separate to the AIFS evaluation, the Australian Government has commissioned three other reviews. The first dealt with the structure of federal courts dealing with family law matters (the Semple Report) and in May 2009 the government announced its response to this report. The second review, announced by the Attorney-General on 24 July 2009, is specifically examining how the practice and procedure of the federal family courts respond to the needs of families who have experienced or are at risk of violence. This review is being conducted by Professor Richard Chisholm, a former Family Court judge. The third will be conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission and is examining how laws dealing with family violence in federal (eg the Family Law Act 1974 (Cth)) and state areas (eg state legislation intended to provide safety for people who experience family violence) could be reformed to fit better together.

The Australian Government has also commissioned additional independent research into shared care and family violence issues. The new research will provide a detailed study into the characteristics of shared care parenting arrangements that work in the best interests of the child, and the impact of family violence on decisions people make during relationship breakdown.

PART THREE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Is the evaluation looking at the entire Family Law Act 1974 (Cth), or just specific parts of the Act?

A: The evaluation is looking at the way that the parts of the Act relevant to parenting arrangements after separation work. It is not looking at the Act in its entirety.

Q: What is the difference between the AIFS evaluation, the review of the Act by former Family Court judge Richard Chisholm, and the Australian Law Reform Commission review?

A: The AIFS evaluation is examining whether the policy objectives that the government wanted to achieve by bringing in the reforms in 2006 are being achieved. These objectives include more sharing of parenting responsibilities after separation, better protection of children from family violence and abuse, more use of relationship services rather than courts to help parents make parenting arrangements, and the use of processes more focused on children's interests to make such arrangements.

The review by Professor Chisholm is looking specifically at how the issues of family violence and child abuse are dealt with in the family law system, with a view to improving how these issues are being dealt with.

The Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry will look at how laws made by state and territory governments to protect people who experience family violence, and federal government laws, such as the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), can work better together to ensure that people are protected from family violence.

Q: Will the evaluation cover no-fault divorce?

A: No. The AIFS evaluation is focused on the 2006 reforms that included changes to services and legislation relating to parenting after separation. No-fault divorce has been recently raised in the public sphere but has never been a subject of this evaluation.

Q: Does the Institute have a process for calling for public submissions?

A: The Institute is not calling for public submissions. The Institute has been asked to undertake an evidence-based evaluation of the reforms. The evaluation is based on rigorous research methods designed to gather data covering many relevant issues and perspectives. These include the experiences of separated parents, grandparents, and the experiences of family law system professionals, including judges, lawyers, family consultants, relationship advisors and family dispute resolution practitioners..

Q: Does the evaluation include a study on domestic violence and child abuse?

One of the key objectives of the reforms was to "encourage greater involvement by both parents in their children's lives after separation, and also protect children from violence and abuse." The extent to which this objective has been achieved is a key question for the evaluation, along with several other questions.

Q: When is the evaluation going to be completed?

AIFS is due to report to the Attorney-General's Department and FaHCSIA at the end of 2009.

Resources

Further information on the AIFS evaluation:

Every Picture Report:

Link to AG's 24 July 2009 speech:

Links to Semple Report and Government Response:

Link to Chisholm Inquiry Terms of Reference: