Parenting, Protection and Family Violence: The Shifting Approach in Family Law - 3 program recorded series

Program 1: Family Law Parenting Arrangements: A New Pathway or Stuck on the Same Old Road?

The significant changes to the Family Law Act have brought into sharp focus the best interests of the children and have removed the presumption of shared parental responsibility. This session will examine recent parenting cases under the new laws and provide guidance to practitioners on the impact of the changes and what the decisions tell us about the application of the new tests, including:

• Are there any discernible trends?
• Strategies for presenting evidence as to “best interests”
• Does the approach to litigation need to be reconsidered?
• How have the processes changed? Do family reports need to be updated? Are family report writers making different recommendations?
• A guide to the way forward

Program 2: Has Varying Final Parenting Orders become a lot more Difficult?

The addition of a second limb to the test in Rice v Asplund (1979) FL90-725 adds a new challenge to applicants wishing to amend final parenting orders. This session will explore the new legislation with a view to determining how the outcomes for children and parents may change going forward, including:

• A re-examination of the Rice v Asplund test and the background to its codification
• Why the change?
• The new second limb “best interests” requirement and its application
• Will the change make it more difficult to bring fresh proceedings?
• What involvement will the children have in the process?
• Even where both parents consent to changes to their final parenting orders, will both limbs need to be satisfied?
• Does the previous case law still provide a precedent to application of the test?
• Applying for a variation of orders made prior to the amendments removing the presumption of shared parental responsibility– how to apply the amendments
• What recent cases tell us

Program 3: Coercive Control and the New Family Law Amendment Bill: What Family Lawyers Need to Know

Domestic violence comes in many forms, including the growing recognition of coercive control. This session will explore the nature of coercive control, the impact of the new Family Law Amendment Bill 2024, and the role family law practitioners need to play in its identification and relevance to their clients’ respective family law dispute, including:

• The origin and meaning of “coercive control” and identifying relevant behaviours
• State legislation and coercive control – definitions and offences
• How does the Family Law Act take into account of behaviour which can be described as coercive control?
• A discussion of indicative behaviours and examples, including the cases of Hannah Clark and Preethi Reddy
• Is withholding a child from seeing the other parent coercive control? Carter & Wilson [2023] FedCFamC1A 9
• The intersection of family law and coercive control and the obligations of legal practitioners
• How the courts are dealing with coercive control, including The Lighthouse Project
• The role of the National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence (Commonwealth) and potential federal and State legislative reforms
• The impact of coercive control in relation to property settlements as a result of recent reforms through the Family Law Amendment Bill 2024