Family Law Assignment Solved

FAMILY LAW

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Barriers for Accessing the Family Law System..........................................................................3
Overcoming the Barriers by Adoption of Initiatives...................................................................4
Efficacy of the Initiatives............................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The Family Law Act, 1975, principally deals with the family law and other laws such as
equity and common law of Australia. It deals with protection of rights which gets affected in
relation to family and their relationships in their survival and ending of their relationship. It is
mainly practiced in Family Court of Australia. Also, according to the Marriage Act, 1961(Cth), it
recognizes the marriages and their divorces which are entered into overseas and get directly
effected with Australian Law, as for recognizing the rights and duties of each party during the
breakdown, The family Law act, 1975, serves de facto relationship.
This research on family law highlights the different contexts of the law, and the problems
and barriers arising out in accessing the justice from Family law Australia to both indigenous and
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people. Also, the various methods and initiatives and their
effectiveness are being mentioned to solve and overcome these barriers in appropriate way so
that fair justice can be provided to all.
MAIN BODY
Barriers for Accessing the Family Law System
The central tenet to the ultimate family Law Act, 1975 is to provide access to all the
people and families, their lost children who require justice. There can be a variety of barriers for
having access to the justice. This can include the High Cost of Legal and Other Related
Services for acquiring the justice Baird, (2015). Most of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People are poor and cannot afford the costly services of professionals and also sometimes, they
are not in a condition to pay the fees of court for acquiring various services related to law
Roberts, (2018). This causes a major hindrances in having access to the justice they want and
deserve but which is out of their reach due to high-costs.
The Websites of Court can also create barriers in accessing to the justice as sometimes
their navigation is difficult for the public as well as for the practicing professionals, due to which
the delay is caused in getting the information and proceedings towards the case for acquiring
justice Master & et.al., (2018). The Information about the System and its Procedures are not

provided in detail to the public who want to identify and secure with the various legal and non-
legal services related to their case.
Also, there is presence of Literacy and Language Barriers, is their which tends to limits
the scope of justice and information related to various services which can be acquired by the
client Titterton, (2017). Many of the clients have know knowledge of the Laws and its Reforms
and the rights acquired by them for getting justice, due to illiteracy, Unawareness along with the
language can be a issue for attaining access to the Law.
In cases where the client wants justice to fulfill various needs in relation to family laws,
which require engagement with various other multiple services. In this situation it is difficult for
the client to Navigate the System of Family Law which is a major barrier. Cultural Safety and
Family Violence are also barriers to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People as their
tradition, values, beliefs are different which create hindrance in having access to the Family
Laws over various issues Eekelaar, (2017). For providing culturally safe services and reducing
the domestic violence, steps have to be taken accordingly.
Accessibility in Geographic and Physical Terms also is a matter of concern which needs
to be sort out by adoption of various measures so that they can have easy access to the services
related to law. People with low income and generally illiterate finds it difficult to cross the
boundaries and have access to the Law for resolving their issues related to lost child, broken
marriages, custody of child, parenting, etc.
Overcoming the Barriers by Adoption of Initiatives
The problems coming in access to the Family Law, its services and court by the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People cannot be separated from each other, as they are
continuing from the historical times, their land's dispossession Klein, Jones and Cubillo, (2016),
removal from the place they lived forcefully, and adoption of policy of Removal of Child in
historical times by the government through separating the children from their families. A wide
range of solution and recommendations have been provided and initiated for providing them just
and fair access to the Family Law and courts.
According to the provisions of The Family Law Act, 1975, Section 60CC, the court has
emphasized more focus on the Connection Between Indigenous Children and their Culture,
when the situation of separation or breakdown of family arises Tilbury, (2015). The court takes

care of their lifestyle, culture, relationship that may affect the child, the practices related to
Child-Rearing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
From 1993, the court is putting endless efforts for promoting easy access to the families
and have also made a court for them. The Chief Justice has also initiated an Outreach committee
for Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People to make sure that the judiciary and the
administration of court make it possible for the indigenous people to participate in the processes
of court easily Douglas and Fitzgerald, (2018).
The Court has also initiated a Reconciliation Action Plan in which many services are
being involved and are made more aware and responsive in nature so that appropriate guidance
and help can be provided to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families
according to their needs.
There are many measures adopted and initiated by the Court in regard to provide easy
justice and access to the courts by the families which includes providing judicial-officers with
Cross-Culture Education Drozd, Saini and Olesen, (2016), Consultants for family and
registrars in the court itself, Developing Relationship between community organizations and
elder people and has also taken initiative of making an appropriate Provision for Providing
Information required by the people.
Encouragement my Court for entering into agreement, so that when any dispute arises they will
be directly introduced to Dispute Resolution.
 For matters relating to the Parenting of a Child and Matters Related to Finance, the
family or the party must be referred to Counseling services or should be provided with a
proper Conference along with a Consultant who would be court-based, and will help the
family in reaching to the agreement about their child and financial related matters. And in
cases, where reaching to an agreement is not possible then the case will be referred to the
Judge of Federal Circuit Court.
Efficacy of the Initiatives
The initiatives taken by the Courts and Government have been achieved but in a limited
way Young, Kenny and Monahan, (2016). There are many unprecedented opportunities for
making improvements in the health sector, removing the barriers coming in having easy access
to the Family law, and to make the initiatives efficient enough, which can be done through
application of augmented efforts in the current scenario.

Strong commitments should be made, for easy implementation and administration of the
initiatives. And the committee should focus on this issue by providing support to the
government, indigenous people, counselors, etc. the goals and objectives set for the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander People by the national Strategic Framework has to be effectively
implemented so that the affairs can be managed conveniently.
The courts are working really hard in v and providing training to the staffs in relation to
the Cultural Protocols, so that they can assist and provide every possible help to the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander families. The staff can provide various information to the families,
such as, publication in relation to provisions of Family Law, working and various programs of
courts.
As the indigenous group had more barriers relating to cost, time, environmental
limitation. Through as study many physical facilitators are being found out for helping the
families and different groups which included behavior pattern, motivation, social support, etc.
most of the indigenous adults are more affected by these factors as compared to the Non-
indigenous family groups Carline, Easteal and Young, (2018). They also helps in organizing and
developing the programs for public health and other related issues which are mostly based on
cultural data.
CONCLUSION
This research has concluded about the various provisions and policies of The Family
Law, 1975, which covers all the issues related to family and their disputes. And also, provides
appropriate solutions for the same. Sometimes, people of Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander
and Ingenious families find it difficult to have fair and just access to the Family court and law,
due to various barriers. These barriers includes high-costs, languages, family violence, cultural
safety, etc,. which can be overcomed by various initiatives which includes developing plans and
policies for the same and also by providing consultants to the needy.
This will help the needy people who are unable to approach to the court and are aware
about the provisions of law and their rights, to have fair access when they are in need. This
practice and efforts of government and court have proved to be fruitful to a large extent, but still
some efforts are being needed to protect the rights and provide easy and fast access to the family
law and courts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Baird, B. 2015. Medical abortion in Australia: a short history.Reproductive health
matters. 23(46). pp.169-176.
Carline, A., Easteal, P. and Young, L. 2018. Domestic Violence, Property and Family Law in
Australia.
Douglas, H. and Fitzgerald, R. 2018. The Domestic Violence Protection Order System as Entry
to the Criminal Justice System for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People.International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 7(3). pp.41-57.
Drozd, L., Saini, M. and Olesen, N. eds. 2016. Parenting plan evaluations: Applied research for
the family court. Oxford University Press.
Eekelaar, J. 2017. Family law and personal life. Oxford University Press.
Klein, E., Jones, M. and Cubillo, E. 2016. Have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal
services failed? A response to Weatherburn. Australian Review of Public Affairs:
Journal.14(1).
Master, B.J. & et.al. 2018. " I want to be heard": an analysis of needs of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander illegal drug users in the ACT and region for treatment and other services.
Community Report. " I want to be heard": an analysis of needs of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander illegal drug users in the ACT and region for treatment and other
services.
Roberts, D. C., 2018. Child contact, domestic violence, and family law in Australia (Doctoral
dissertation).
Tilbury, C. 2015. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in Australia: Poverty and child
welfare involvement. InTheoretical and Empirical Insights into Child and Family
Poverty. (pp. 273-284). Springer, Cham.
Titterton, A. 2017. Indigenous access to family law in Australia and caring for indigenous
children. UNSWLJ, 40, p.146.
Young, L., Kenny, M. A. and Monahan, G. 2016. Children and the Law in Australia. Lexis
Nexis.
Online

Indigenous Australians. 2016. Online Available
Through:<http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fcoaweb/family-law-
matters/getting-help/indigenous-australians/>.