In Australia, each State and Territory (except the Northern Territory which has no law on the topic) has different laws governing surrogacy. Common to all is that they permit ‘altruistic’ arrangements but not commercial arrangements in Australia. New South Wales, the ACT and Queensland have made it an offence for those in their jurisdiction to enter into international […]
In “Parenting outside the normative framework: Australia’s single mothers by choice” published in the Australian Journal of Family Law (2015) 29, Fiona Kelly Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University Law School, outlined the legal issues faced by un-partnered women who choose to become single mothers through assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Kelly finds that single mothers […]
News today has revealed dramatic changes to the way the Federal Circuit Court handles hearings in relation to Indigenous families. According to the Australian, the court – which handles the great majority of family law matters – will become more accessible to Indigenous families in a number of ways, inculuding: 1. Holding Family Law hearings […]
On 24 January 2014, the Federal Circuit Court handed down the decision of Gardiner & Rivers [2014] FCCA 76. This matter involved a mother and father who separated in 2010 after three years together. They had two children, a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old. The mother had sole parental responsibility for the children. The father spent […]
The Easter long weekend saw five women and children in Australia die from a result of domestic and family violence. Two, in particular, were high-profile incidents that have made headlines across Australia. The first occurred last Wednesday afternoon and involved a woman named Fiona Warzywoda, who had been with her partner for 18 years. She […]
The Age newspaper has reported on just how significant the problem of family violence has become in the state of Victoria. Despite the State Government investing more than $90 million this year towards preventing family violence, there have been numerous incidents in which serial offenders have repeatedly breached intervention orders issued by the courts. The […]
The Victorian government has proposed new laws relating to family violence that have the potential to make a significant difference in the way these matters are handled by the courts. The laws, proposed by the Napthine government, would make it a crime to not disclose a case of child sexual abuse. The crime carries a […]
A five-year-long custody dispute in the Family Court has not only been making headlines, but also testing how well the legal system is able to handle family violence. The matter involves a couple that have been given the pseudonyms Ms Tindall and Mr Saldo; they have been fighting over their young daughter since their relationship […]
On the 31st of January, 2014, the Family Court handed down the decision of Roberts & Waters [2014] FAMCA 34 (referred to as R & W); it involved the best interests of the child, and determined whether the father posed an unacceptable risk of harm to the child. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) focuses […]
The recent family law case of Batkin & Batkin [2013] FamCA 44 involved a separated couple and three children that had been born of the relationship. The trial initially came before Justice Murphy in November 2011. At the time, Murphy J adjourned the parenting trial until February 2013, and made interim parenting orders by consent […]
