Women’s Legal Services Victoria has prepared a Guide to the Act that includes a table which sets out the key changes, including the relevant new or amended section in the Family Law Act and a short explanation of the substance of the amendments.

Download the guide here.

Different parts of the Act will commence at different times. The provisions relating to family violence will commence from a date to be fixed by proclamation (or six months after assent at the latest). Most of these provisions will only apply to cases that are instituted on or after commencement.

You can find more info on the Parliament House page for the Bill.

In short, it seems the proposed amendments would:

• implement recommendation 1 by clarifying that greater weight should be given to the protection of children from harm  in determining the best interests of the child
• implement recommendation 3 by explaining the way in which the court may use evidence of family violence orders and relevant inferences from those orders in determining the best interests of the child
• clarifying and amending the commencement provisions so that the amendments will only apply to cases that commence after the commencement of the new laws

The Greens have also issued some proposed amendments, which would:

• include exposing children to family violence as a form of family violence (in the definition)
• remove the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility when making parenting orders

The Government also tabled a replacement Explanatory Memorandum on Thursday, 13 October, which corrects some errors in the original Explanatory Memorandum and clarifies some other aspects of the Bill. You can find it (and the original) here.

As you might have gathered, debate on the Bill is yet to be resumed in the Senate (despite earlier predictions of a 12 September debate). The Bill continues to be listed in the Senate’s Notice Paper under Government Business and is listed in the Notice Paper for when the Senate next sits on 31 October.

The Committee has also recommended some minor changes, including clarifying that the safety of children must be the priority in deciding family law cases. The Greens Senators make some additional comments, including the need to remove equal shared parenting provisions, include exposure to family violence within the definition of family violence, and create a comprehensive risk assessment framework.

The next step in the process is for the Bill to be debated in the Senate – we hear this is likely to happen in the week beginning 12 September. The Senate Committee’s recommendations are not included automatically in the Bill. Rather, the Committee makes the recommendations to the Senate and the Senate can choose whether or not to make the recommended changes, make other changes, pass the Bill as is, etc.

Any changes that are made in the Senate will need to to back to the House of Representatives to be passed by both Houses. So, at a minimum, the Bill will need the support of Labor and the Greens in the Senate  (with or without changes), and Labor, the Greens, and independents Wilkie, Oakeshott and Windsor, in the House of Representatives (if any changes are made).

You can find the transcript from the hearings online at the Committee’s website.

The Committee is due to report back to the Senate on 16 August 2011. If you haven’t already put in a submission we have heard they may accept a late submission up to the reporting deadline (although obviously the sooner the better!).

Although the deadline for submissions has closed, we have heard that the Committee is still accepting submissions for its inquiry into the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011, although you need to get these in ASAP.

More support is still need for the Bill and further amendments, so please make a submission to the inquiry if you haven’t already done so. If you made a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department in January, you need to make it again to the Senate Committee because this is a separate inquiry.

The Women’s Legal Services Australia’s position paper and submission writing kit might be of use to you in drafting your submission.

The Senate Committee has sought an extension until 16 August for its inquiry into this Bill and so the Senate will most likely consider the Bill after that date. Hearings are currently scheduled for 8 July (to be confirmed).

You can find the Bill, the second reading speeches and the details of the Liberal Party proposed amendments (which were not passed by the House) at the Parliament House website for the Bill.

• The Rally for Children’s Safetyis on!
• The Bill is set to be debated in the House of Representatives around lunchtime.
• The Coalition have announced they have some concerns about the Bill.
• The Attorney-General has released even more research that demonstrates the family law system is failing to protect women and children from violence (including evidence that one in four parents experienced family violence before separation and in many cases children witnessed some of the abuse or violence, and that one in five parents reported they had safety concerns for themselves or their child as a result of ongoing contact with the other parent).

If you can’t get to the rally and are wondering what you can do, you could send an email to Shadow Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis, calling on the Coalition to support the changes in the Bill and the further changes that are necessary to ensure the family law system is a safe one.

You can also contact your local coalition Senators and members of parliament. If you don’t know who your local member is, you can find your electorate here and the contact details for the electorate representative here. You can find your Senators here.

On Wednesday, the Selection Committee report referred the Bill to the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee for inquiry. The Committee reported back to the House yesterday saying that because the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee are conducting a public inquiry into the Bill, the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee would not be inquiring further.

We’ll keep you updated on next steps but in the meantime, be sure to sign our petition and endorse the Safety for Children’s Alliance key messages for its rally in Canberra on 25 May.