The Australian Family Law Act 1975 (FLA)

Which marriages meet the requirements for dissolution is defined by legal standards. Over the last 200 years, the grounds for divorce in Western societies have expanded. These expansions have made divorce more accessible. Although the divorce rate has increased, there is not a clear link between the accessibility and this increase. Other key influences effecting divorce rates include economic, social, cultural, demographic and institutional factors.

The case of Jonah v White (2012) 48 FAM LR 562 wishes to appeal the original decision of Murphy J, in which his Honour asserted that the appellant, (“Ms Jonah”) and the respondent (“Mr White”) had not been in a de-facto relationship in correspondence with the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”). The appeal is bought before May, Strickland and Ainslie-Wallace JJ in the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia in Brisbane. The case seeks to question and determine what constitutes a law-binding de-facto relationship.

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

Family law is the most complex aspect of the Australian legal system as it is constantly under review and reform pursuing to adopt society’s continual change in values and principles. The changing of laws in an attempt to be parallel with society is a strenuous process. Nevertheless, legislations are reflective of contemporary society’s values and ethics. Numerous legal issues arise in regards to family including, same sex relationships, domestic violence and divorce ideally on the best interest of the child, where family laws have been imposed to protect individuals and aim to achieve justice.

The effectiveness of legal and non-legal responses concerning contemporary issues within families is to a moderate extent. For example, whilst legal responses such as the Family Law Act 1975 (FLAct) and the Property (Relationships) Act 1984 creates enforceability and fairness, there is a great lack of equality and, in some cases, a lack of timeliness which is shown in the article Caught in the Middle of Parenting Nightmare1 in which two parents have fought for more than 7 years about their child’s upbringing. Furthermore, whilst non-legal mechanisms such as the media creates fairness and accessibility, there is a lack of enforceability as the media does not hold legislative power. The contemporary issues that exist within families include divorce,

Domestic violence has become an increasingly dominant problem within Australian society but is constantly pushed to the side like a burden. Domestic violence is a relationship between intimate partners in which one individual seeks to assert power and control over the other and cause fear or intimidation and doesn’t have to be physical abuse, it can be emotional, psychological, financial, sexual or other types of abuse. It can affect anyone in the community regardless of gender, sexual identity, race, age, culture, ethnicity, religion, disability, economic status or location ("home - Domestic Violence", 2016). Violence isn’t just physical violence it can also be sexual, verbal, psychological, emotional, spiritual, economic or social. Domestic violence is the most frequent form of assault in Australian society nevertheless, it remains a hidden problem because it occurs within the privacy of the home and those involved are usually reluctant to speak out. Women and Children are commonly affected by domestic violence in fact, 33.3% of women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15 (Domestic Violence Statistics, 2016). Although, studies show that men are not the only perpetrators, in fact more than 10,000 men alone have been affected by domestic violence in NSW ("10,000 men are domestic violence victims", 2016).

(L. Young, G. Monahan, A. Sifris, R. Carrol, Family law in Australia and Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) c

The legal system in Australia is continuously evolving and reforming its laws to achieve justice for all members in society. However, contemporary family law issues such as: domestic violence, surrogacy, and same-sex relationships have raised community awareness as important social affairs and the impacts affecting all family members. Therefore, the law along with countless non-government organisations are working towards achieving justice for the modern day Australian family and all it’s members. These are three perfect examples of areas of the law that could be responded to more effectively due to the rapid developments and conflicting ethical views in these areas; impacting on the most vulnerable in our society

The processes and laws regulating property orders for divorcing couples are found in Part VIII of the FLA. In Australia the main requirement of property division is coming to an outcome that is just and equitable for both parties on a case-to-case basis (Mallet V Mallet (1984)). When deciding upon this, three considerations are

But this has not always been so. The system existing before the adoption of the Family Law (Scotland) Act which was to be found in the now repealed section 5 of the Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976 was characterised and criticized for its lack of clear guidance and objectives regarding the making of settlements and the great judiciary discretion it led to . Courts could take into account all the circumstances they wished and the English legal framework established by the aforementioned Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 was more developed that the position prevailing in Scotland at that time . “A key aim of the 1985 Act was therefore to create a much clearer framework to inform decisions about the financial consequences of divorce” . This as undeniably

Family Law is an entire branch of law that deals with divorce, custody, and parenting. Family law in Canada is complex enough to have a wide variety of solutions to many different problems or disputes over parenting or custody that may occur. These law are established with the safety and wellbeing of the child in

Gordon and Arbuthnot (2017) states that lesser stress and responsibility in the hands of parents in joint custody as their financial burden is divided equally. Zinner (2000) mention that in joint custody, reports show that parents have lesser responsibility as they do not need to give full attention to the child’s needs every day. Besides that, Zinner (2000) also mention that the children in joint custody agreement received benefits as they are supported materially and are 75% paid fully in contrast with those in solo custody agreement whereby they are only 46% paid fully and supported. In shared parenting plans, both parents are responsible in deciding and making important decisions on important issues such as education or the health care of the child. According to the Family Law Act 1975 of Australia, it is stated that the best interest of the child must be protected and the child can keep a significant relationship with both parents equally. It is also stated in the Family Law Act 1975 of Australia, whereby both parents are responsible in matters such as health, religion, education, change of name and adjustment in living arrangements which concerns the child. Hence, joint custody for children is convenient in lessening stress and burdens on both

In 1995, Statistics Canada data shows that 30% of marriages split (McGovern). Since the 1960’s, marriage and divorce have been undergoing profound changes which have altered the meaning of marriage, the chances of its ending in divorce and the circumstances attached to marriage. These changes have made it easier for couples to obtain a divorce due to the changing laws and changing morals of society. The changes include three new grounds needed to prove marital breakdown, such as your spouse committing adultery, your spouse causing mental or physical cruelty or a separation of a year it was previously three years. Divorce also impacts the family as a whole, not only the children but also the two parties

Divorce law operates on several different levels, and prior to 1857 the ecclesiastical courts determined the law on divorce. However, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 currently governs this area. Theoretically, irretrievable breakdown of marriage is the only justification for divorce which must be accompanied in conjunction with one of the five facts. This was acknowledged in Buffery v Buffery, which recognised there must be a clear link between the fact and the irretrievable breakdown. Consequently, if the fact is not accompanied by irretrievable breakdown it will be unsuccessful, as recognised in Biggs v Biggs.

Gollins , the husband’s failure to absorb a job, his incapability to hold his wife and his dependence on his spouse to repay his urgent money owed became held to be a conduct amounting to cruelty. In Williams v. Williams , husband’s persistent accusations of adultery against the wife were considered amounting to cruelty, despite the fact that the husband was found to be insane. In Masarati v. Masarati , the Court of Appeal held that “today we're possibly faced with a new scenario as regards the burden to be attached to 1 unique issue that is the breakdown of marriage”. In the Mortimer Committee’s report the breakdown of marriage is defined as: “such failure in the matrimonial relationship or such circumstances adverse to that relation that no reasonable probability remains for the spouses again living together as husband and wife