The Australian Government is committed to improving the family law system so that it is accessible, safer, simpler to use, and delivers justice and fairness for all Australian families. The Government wants to make sure separating couples can better understand the decision-making framework used in family law to resolve their property and financial matters confidently and safely.
The release of the draft Family Law Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2023 (the exposure draft) is an opportunity to provide feedback on proposed amendments that seek to achieve this outcome.
The exposure draft would amend the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (Family Law Act) and make some consequential amendments to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth) (FCFCOA Act). This includes amendments to address the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Final Report No. 135: Family Law for the Future - An Inquiry into the Family Law System (ALRC Report) and to implement elements of the Government Response to the Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System (JSC).
The exposure draft contains 4 schedules that thematically present the proposed amendments:
Note: the exposure draft may not necessarily reflect the scope of the final Bill presented to parliament following this consultation process.
We have prepared a consultation paper to explain our exposure draft and seek stakeholder views on key issues. This consultation paper reflects the structure of the exposure draft. It provides information on the amendments within each schedule of the exposure draft and the policies that they seek to implement. We strongly encourage you to download, read and refer to this paper in conjunction with the exposure draft in preparing your submission.
For a short overview of the Bill, download our fact sheet:
We welcome feedback from all stakeholders, and appreciate the time and effort involved in considering draft legislation. Your feedback and perspectives are invaluable to ensuring the effective implementation and operation of the proposed reforms.
We invite submissions in response to the wording of the proposed amendments and, in particular, in response to the specific consultation questions set out in the consultation paper.
The easiest way to make a submission is to complete our online questionnaire on areas that are of interest to you. You can provide responses to as many or as few questions as you like. If you do not wish to respond to particular questions, please leave the response field blank (do not write “Not applicable”, “N/A” or “Nil”). Click ‘Make a submission’ below to get started.
We will only publish your submission if you advise us to do so. When making a submission through the Consultation Hub, you can indicate if you would like your submission published or if you would like to make an anonymous submission.
Submissions must not directly or indirectly identify persons, associates of persons, or witnesses involved in family law proceedings. This means that submissions should not include details like a person’s name (or their children), address, workplace, or school. Section 121 of the Family Law Act makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish this information.
If you advise us to publish your submission, you will be required to acknowledge and agree that you have made all reasonable efforts to:
Even if you advise us to publish your submission, we reserve the right to leave unpublished any submission or part thereof, in particular if we consider that:
Submissions may be subject to freedom of information requests, or requests from Parliament, which we will consider and respond to in line with regulatory requirements.
Attorney-General’s Department
3-5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
Email: FamilyLawAmendmentBillNo2@ag.gov.au
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