Change to family law court welcomed, but..
WITH some family law matters taking more than three years to be resolved, a Toowoomba lawyer is cautiously welcoming proposals to address the Family Law Court system.
Accredited Family Law specialist Ben O’Neill of O’Neill Family Law said the profession had been calling for change to the system for some years.
The Federal Government intends to merge the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia to hopefully streamline family court proceedings.
“Currently, it’s not unusual for the court system to take more than three years to finalise parenting arrangements or property settlement arrangements if judicial determination is required,” Mr O’Neill said.
“Unfortunately, a significant period of their lives is taken up in the court system for some litigants, particularly if there is little urgency to the matter.
“There is no doubt that the system as it stood needed to be changed but I have some concerns regarding the Attorney General’s proposal and we as the profession await more detail at this stage.
Some concerns Mr O’Neill identified was that there had been no commitment that Judges appointed under the new regime would have specialised family law expertise and whilst the proposal reconfigures the court system, it did so without any further funding being allocated to the family law courts.
“At this stage, the profession is eagerly awaiting how it will be legislated and how it will operate in practice and until then, the announcement is likely cause for cautious optimism.
“It is also difficult at this stage to see how the proposal will play out effectively without further funding but time will tell.”