Family Law In Australia

Same-sex marriage or more formally known as gay marriage, is the marriage between two people of the same sex. In Australia it’s illegal, marriage in Australia is “the voluntary union, entered into for life, of one man and one women to the exclusion of all others” (Marriage Act 1961). In some states in the USA it is legal for example Colorado, California and New York. In Australia same-sex couples have no access to marriage, civil unions or other federal relationship registration. Same sex couples can be recognised as de facto couples. Same-sex couples are prevented from marrying by the amendments to the Marriage Act 1961, passed in 2004 by the Howard Government, Labor party. However same-sex couples who are married in countries where same-sex is legal cannot divorce within Australia due to the same-sex marriage ban. At the federal level, in 2008 and 2009, there was a wide-ranging suite of reforms to provide equal entitlements and responsibilities for same-sex couples, This includes social security, employment, taxation and superannuation. Tony Abbott has traditionally opposed same-sex marriage, and in 2012 parliament had debates on the same-sex marriage bills, in the election campaign, Abbott reaffirmed that he would not support legislation to allow gay marraige.

Identify and investigate these contemporary issues relating to family law and evaluate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal responses to these issues

For centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The traditions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the last decade of the 20th century and left the battered wives and very frequently, her children, at the mercy of the husband. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when the government began to do something to protect mothers, wives, and lovers from intimate

Today, alternative long-term relationships are growing in times in heterosexual and LGBTQ relationships. Cohabitation is defined by “Recent Changes in Family Structure” as quote: “an intimate relationship that includes a common living place and which exists without the benefit of legal, cultural, or religious sanction.” Between 2005 and 2009 2/3 of relationships approximately were preceded by cohabitation (“Rise of Cohabitation” 2014.) This arrangement is less committed and therefore it takes longer to end, without much emotional devastation of a pricey divorces. Most marriages still begin with cohabitation. However, it is becoming less and less likely that cohabitation will end in a marriage. Marriage is still common in today’s culture, with approximately 60.25 million married couples in 2016 (“Number of married couples in the United States from 1960 to 2016 (in millions)” 2016.) This is evident why it is killing the nuclear family standard. People are having less desire to fully commit to a marriage in the first place. 1950 social standards would have never accepted an unmarried couple as a part of a normal life so only can a legal marriage constitutes the ideal set forth. Another, way to break the standard is remove some components.

Out of the shadows and into the limelight, the once hidden crime of domestic violence has recently emerged within the Australian community as a widespread criminal issue. This abuse of power occurs in a relationship when one partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate and control the other. Inflicting physical harm upon another human being is undoubtedly a breach of the criminal law, yet the Australian legal system takes little measures to protect the wider community from this type of violence. According to Family Lawyer Richard Ingleby, domestic violence has often been condoned by the legal system due to the fact that assaults occur in the ‘private’ realm of the home where legal measures are regarded as inappropriate, and interventionist. However, by overlooking domestic violence as a criminal offence, does the Australian legal system fail to adequately protect the family unit from this form of violence? Recent studies from the Australian Bureau of Statics have revealed that 23% of women who have ever been married or engaged in a de facto relationship have experienced violence by a partner at some time during the relationship. Due to the secrecy that once surrounded this kind of abuse, victims often feel unable to speak out and seek help, therefore even large surveys cannot provide accurate estimates of the extend of domestic violence within the Australia community (Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre, 1998). Despite the high incidence rate of

The aim of Australia’s family law while responding the ever changing values of society, is to achieve justice in any activity it undertakes. The success of this is valued and determined by whether any significant action has been taken as a result, and what the effects of such actions are on improving the situations of all parties involved. The effectiveness of family law on changing values cannot be determined when regarded as a whole. However, when broken down into certain values, such as in the topic of best interest of the child during separation and the issue of surrogacy, it can be seen that Australia’s family laws are not effective in levelling with the community’s changing values.

Thus, the act can be unenforceable at times, as seen in the article, “Not so equal when it comes to super” (Star Observer, Lamont, Ani, 2008) That said, the act enables the protection of individuals’ rights to be free of discrimination on the basis of sexual preferences. Furthermore, it meets society’s needs to see equality amongst same sex relationships, which is evident in a survey concluding 72% of Sydney residents are in favour of gay marriage.

For Australian law to be effective it must be dynamic so it can reflect changing societal views, which law reform can help attain. A significant area of recent social change is the acceptance of same-sex relationships in Australian society. To mirror this, current law reforms have been somewhat effective in achieving just outcomes regarding the recognition of same-sex relationships in Commonwealth law. The combination of official recognition of same-sex relationships to an extent, attempts at removing discrimination in legislation, and the delay of justice denotes this. Considering the achievement of justice and the protection of individual’s rights, it is evident that law reform has significantly improved recognition of same-sex relationships, but there are more essential responses that need to be enacted.

This essay will critically analyse the significant changes that have occurred within domestic violence which is viewed as a vital subject within the criminal justice system. It will explore the way that domestic violence has progressively become a concerning issue in the criminal justice system from being relatively acceptable in recent history. In addition to this, the essay will explore legislation changes in relation to domestic violence and how the police have arguably been forced to change their attitudes towards a problem that was once thought of as a private regard. It will critically analyse the theories put forward as to why domestic violence occurs in today’s society. It will explore the weaknesses within the criminal justice system, especially the police in regards to domestic violence, the police previously viewed domestic violence as a matter of which they should not get involved. However as mentioned in the essay, after many reviews within the system, many improvements have been made to help protect the victim.

Nils Christie, Conflict as Property - A Brief Examination Through The Example of Domestic Violence Laws

On May 23rd 2015, Ireland became one of the first few countries throughout the world to legalized gay marriage. Since this approval there has been new debate as to where Australia stands on same-sex marriage. The amount of same-sex couples in Australia increased by 32% from 2006 to 2011 and 70% of the Australian nation believe that Australia should allow the right to same-sex marriage. Before the Marriage Amendment Act 2004 by the Howard Government, there was no previous definition of Marriage in the 1961 Act and the definition was based on common law. The definition changed by the Howard Government in

The main aim of the “If I Killed You, I’d Get the Kids: Women’s Survival and Protection Work with Child Custody and Access in the Context of Woman Abuse” article, was to propose, “how women work to negotiate formal systems in relation to child custody and access in the context of woman abuse” (Varcoe & Irwin, 2004, p. 78). Academic and community researchers, including a social action group, collaboratively conducted the entire article in two adjacent suburban communities in Western Canada (Varcoe & Irwin, 2004, p. 78). More so, the data of the research study, which was particularly based on Participatory Action Research, was collected between 2000 and 2002 (Varcoe & Irwin, 2004, p. 78). At the time, the legislation

Domestic legislation allows for any married couple to get a divorce if their marriage is beyond reconciliation as a direct result of the addition of the ‘no fault’ divorce. Past legislation and non-legal measures such as Kids Helpline that address the needs of care of children is somewhat ineffective in dealing with conflict in parenting agreements which leads to children left exposed to risk of harm. The government is responsive to the maintenance of children by their non-custodial parent but in some cases child support payments are unpaid leaving the child vulnerable to a lack of care due to financial instability. Non-legal responses are available to conflict this but these are not accessible in all situations. International cases receive more media coverage than most domestic cases but the media as a non-legal response is somewhat ineffective as shown in the Sally Faulkner child abduction case. International law also has limitations in enforcing the care and protection of children but steps have been taken to combat this in the form of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Overall, the legal and non-legal responses to issues involving children are lacking efficiency in areas specific to the care and protection of children domestically and

The decline of marriage in the West has been extensively researched over the last three decades (Carmichael and Whittaker; de Vaus; Coontz; Beck-Gernshein). Indeed, it was fears that the institution would be further eroded by the legalisation of same sex unions internationally that provided the impetus for the Australian government to amend the Marriage Act (1961). These amendments in 2004 sought to strengthen marriage by explicitly defining, for the first time, marriage as a legal partnership between one man and one woman. The subsequent heated debates over the discriminatory nature of this definition have been illuminating, particularly in the way they have highlighted the ongoing social significance of marriage, even at a

Divorce is a growing epidemic in Canada and the United States. It affects both parties involved, being the spouses, and also has a profound affect on children of the marriage. Recently our government has been revising the old divorce act. It was apparent that it was time to revise the act because it did not properly protect the children from being caught in the middle of things.