December 19, 2024 • 10 mins
What's new in the law in 2024? In this mini-series, Natalie chats to specialist lawyers at Legal Aid NSW about key legal changes that community workers should know. This episode features family lawyer, Cailey, speaking about parenting arrangements, property settlement and changing a child's name.
Listen to our other episodes in this series:
Download the transcript.
Disclaimer: This podcast episode is general information only and cannot be relied on as legal advice. The information is accurate at the time of posting but may have changed. If you need assistance about a particular situation, contact our team at LawAccess NSW via webchat at www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au or call 1300 888 529.
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Episode Transcript
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Natalie (00:00):
[Music] Welcome to our Law for Community Workers series
wrapping up what's new in thelaw in 2024. My name is Natalie
and in this episode, I'm talkingto Cailey, a family lawyer at
Legal Aid New South Wales, aboutwhat's new in family law. Before
we start, I would like toacknowledge the traditional
custodians of the lands we arerecording on today and pay our
(00:21):
respects to Elders past andpresent. Just a reminder that
this podcast is generalinformation only and cannot be
relied on as legal advice. Theinformation is correct at the
time of publishing, but it maychange. If you need help about a
particular situation, contactour team at LawAccess NSW via
web chat, through the Legal AidNSW website, or call 1300 888
(00:45):
529. Thanks, and let's getstarted. So what changes have
there been in 2024 in family lawin Australia that you think are
important for people to knowabout?
Cailey (00:58):
Two really big ones and then one niche one. The biggest
one would be the amendments tothe Family Law Act in relation
to parenting arrangements. Andthat started back in May 2024 of
this year. The second biggestone is sort of, keep an eye and
an ear out for this, which issome changes to property
(01:20):
settlement and the way the courtlooks at dividing assets of
relationships. And the thirdone, which is a really niche
one, is really about birth,deaths and marriages in New
South Wales, and changes to howparents can ultimately change
their child's name. They'dprobably be the three ones that
come to mind for this year, 2024
Natalie (01:43):
Yeah, thanks, Cailey. Maybe let's start with the
changes to birth, deaths andmarriages, because that's
something people might not haveheard about as much, and I'm
interested to hear more aboutthat. So maybe start with
explaining that change.
Cailey (01:55):
Yeah of course. So I think the easiest way to do it
is to tell you what it wasbefore. So before this change
came into effect, if someonewanted to change a child's name,
they had to get this reallyspecific court order - one,
approving the proposed namechange, and two - authorising
that parent to basically applywithout the other parent's
(02:17):
consent. So quite technical,pretty arduous. Today, after the
changes, we have seen theirability to change a child's name
if you've got an order for asole parental responsibility
order - much, much easier. Soyou don't have to, no longer, do
I have to give people advicethat they have to go back to
court if they've got a soleparental responsibility order.
(02:40):
So for those people, ultimately,that legal change just makes
that a little bit easier forthem to change their child's
name.
Natalie (02:46):
That does sound like a very practical and helpful
change for a lot of people. Sothroughout the year, I think
people probably have heard bitsand pieces about the parenting
amendments, what changes inparenting stick out to you the
most?
Cailey (03:02):
Two big ones. So the first big one, especially for
community workers to get anunderstanding of, is how the
court has changed what theyconsider in a child's best
interest, to know what courtorders ultimately to make for
kids. So there used to be 15considerations. They've culled
(03:24):
that back to only fiveconsiderations. And then there
is an additional one forAboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children regardingtheir right to enjoy, connect
with, maintain, explore, anddevelop this positive
appreciation for their culture.The second biggest change would
be the court's approach to thisconcept that we call parental
(03:47):
responsibility, or in the newlegislation's words, it's called
decision making responsibility,and basically that's where there
was this presumption in the oldlegislation that parents shared
equal shared parentalresponsibility, so making
decisions long term, majordecisions rather, for their
children, things like, what'stheir school that they should go
(04:10):
to, signing off on medicaltreatment, what religion they
practice, all those big things.And this legislation has removed
that presumption, and in doingso, it's also removed this long
standing pathway that the courtused to have to follow. So they
used to have to, if you weremaking an equal shared parental
responsibility order, considerfirst looking at whether it was
(04:33):
the best interest of a child forequal time to occur, and then if
you said no to that, whether itwas in the best interest of the
child for substantial andsignificant time. So it's
removed the requirement for thecourt to go down that pathway,
which is huge.
Natalie (04:50):
So Cailey family violence has been a big and
concerning topic, well, always,but in certainly in 2024 so how
is the family law jurisdictionresponded to this?
Cailey (05:03):
In a number of ways. The parenting amendments that we saw
back in May 2024 startdefinitely recognise and
definitely emphasise the impactof family violence on children
and carers. We see the court asa result of this, arguably more
equipped to respond to domesticand family violence in their
(05:25):
case management and also ensurethat the parties and the
children going throughout courtproceedings are safe. We've also
seen some administrative Isuppose you would call them
changes. So there's legislationnow that allows the court easier
access to information aboutthings like child abuse, family
violence, from welfare agencies,police, those types of
(05:48):
departments, which ultimately, Iwould say, puts the court in a
better position to make informedfindings of risk much, much
quicker. And then very recently,as I mentioned earlier is this
new introduction of the FamilyLaw Amendment Bill that was
passed in November 2024. Wewon't see these changes come
(06:11):
into legal effect until, I wouldsay, about early to mid next
year - 2025. But these changesdefinitely recognise the
economic impact of familyviolence on separated parties
and children as well. And Ithink if I could touch on this a
little bit further, the sort ofthree biggest things that I've
(06:32):
picked out that I thinkcommunity workers should know
about here is - one, there isnow going to be in the
legislation this expressrecognition of economic and
financial abuse as familyviolence, and the new
legislation, ultimately, in itscurrent form anyway, will give
(06:53):
us a definition and provide uswith some examples of that as
well.
So things like controllingaccess to money, sabotaging
income, employment, accumulatingdebt, for example, without their
consent, those types of things.It also codifies what currently
is in case law only, this reallyimportant principle that
(07:14):
recognises family violence isabsolutely a factor that we need
to consider when determining howassets and debt should be
divided, and absolutelysomething that can impact on a
party's ability to contributeduring a relationship and also
impact on someone's economicfuture. So real consequences
(07:35):
that we've seen there, and thisnew legislation will
particularise that in thelegislation and recognise that,
which I think is huge, and thevery, very last one we always
used to have to give advice toparties that animals were just
going to be divided as part ofthe normal asset pool, whereas
(07:57):
now the new legislation proposesto have this new approach in the
legislation. It speaks aboutcompanion animals, in my terms,
household pets, and basically itallows the court more powers, I
suppose, to be able to deal withanimals in new light. So really
considering things like thecircumstances in which the
(08:20):
animal was acquired, anydomestic or family violence as a
part of that relationship, andthe need for that animal to be
with one person over the otherif there has been a history of
actual or threatened sort ofcruelty or abuse towards that
particular animal. So really,again, just equipping the court
(08:42):
with more tools I suppose, to beable to really focus in on and
recognise how family violencehas a huge impact economically,
not just on parenting arrangements.
Natalie (08:54):
Thanks Cailey, that is really good change to hear
about. I know a lot of people,pets are such a huge part of
their lives. And funnily enough,while you were talking about
that, my dog was in thebackground scratching the
carpet. I don't know you couldhear that. She agrees. Pets are
not purely property.
Cailey (09:14):
I agree with her.
Natalie (09:17):
All right. Well, thank you so much for your time today.
I think that was a reallyhelpful wrap up of what's
changed in family law inAustralia in 2024
Cailey (09:30):
You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
Natalie (09:32):
I know family lawyers in Legal Aid often give advice
to people on things like AVOs,the new coercive control laws,
and we will be talking aboutthose with our criminal lawyers
in another podcast. That's allfor this episode. Thank you
again to Cailey for chattingwith us. You can check out our
other episodes in this series,wrapping up what's new in civil
(09:54):
law and criminal law. We'll putthe links to those and more in
the show notes. Bye for now.
[Music] Welcome to our Law for Community Workers series
wrapping up what's new in thelaw in 2024. My name is Natalie
and in this episode, I'm talkingto Cailey, a family lawyer at
Legal Aid New South Wales, aboutwhat's new in family law. Before
we start, I would like toacknowledge the traditional
custodians of the lands we arerecording on today and pay our
(00:21):
respects to Elders past andpresent. Just a reminder that
this podcast is generalinformation only and cannot be
relied on as legal advice. Theinformation is correct at the
time of publishing, but it maychange. If you need help about a
particular situation, contactour team at LawAccess NSW via
web chat, through the Legal AidNSW website, or call 1300 888
(00:45):
529. Thanks, and let's getstarted. So what changes have
there been in 2024 in family lawin Australia that you think are
important for people to knowabout?
Cailey (00:58):
Two really big ones and then one niche one. The biggest
one would be the amendments tothe Family Law Act in relation
to parenting arrangements. Andthat started back in May 2024 of
this year. The second biggestone is sort of, keep an eye and
an ear out for this, which issome changes to property
(01:20):
settlement and the way the courtlooks at dividing assets of
relationships. And the thirdone, which is a really niche
one, is really about birth,deaths and marriages in New
South Wales, and changes to howparents can ultimately change
their child's name. They'dprobably be the three ones that
come to mind for this year, 2024
Natalie (01:43):
Yeah, thanks, Cailey. Maybe let's start with the
changes to birth, deaths andmarriages, because that's
something people might not haveheard about as much, and I'm
interested to hear more aboutthat. So maybe start with
explaining that change.
Cailey (01:55):
Yeah of course. So I think the easiest way to do it
is to tell you what it wasbefore. So before this change
came into effect, if someonewanted to change a child's name,
they had to get this reallyspecific court order - one,
approving the proposed namechange, and two - authorising
that parent to basically applywithout the other parent's
(02:17):
consent. So quite technical,pretty arduous. Today, after the
changes, we have seen theirability to change a child's name
if you've got an order for asole parental responsibility
order - much, much easier. Soyou don't have to, no longer, do
I have to give people advicethat they have to go back to
court if they've got a soleparental responsibility order.
(02:40):
So for those people, ultimately,that legal change just makes
that a little bit easier forthem to change their child's
name.
Natalie (02:46):
That does sound like a very practical and helpful
change for a lot of people. Sothroughout the year, I think
people probably have heard bitsand pieces about the parenting
amendments, what changes inparenting stick out to you the
most?
Cailey (03:02):
Two big ones. So the first big one, especially for
community workers to get anunderstanding of, is how the
court has changed what theyconsider in a child's best
interest, to know what courtorders ultimately to make for
kids. So there used to be 15considerations. They've culled
(03:24):
that back to only fiveconsiderations. And then there
is an additional one forAboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children regardingtheir right to enjoy, connect
with, maintain, explore, anddevelop this positive
appreciation for their culture.The second biggest change would
be the court's approach to thisconcept that we call parental
(03:47):
responsibility, or in the newlegislation's words, it's called
decision making responsibility,and basically that's where there
was this presumption in the oldlegislation that parents shared
equal shared parentalresponsibility, so making
decisions long term, majordecisions rather, for their
children, things like, what'stheir school that they should go
(04:10):
to, signing off on medicaltreatment, what religion they
practice, all those big things.And this legislation has removed
that presumption, and in doingso, it's also removed this long
standing pathway that the courtused to have to follow. So they
used to have to, if you weremaking an equal shared parental
responsibility order, considerfirst looking at whether it was
(04:33):
the best interest of a child forequal time to occur, and then if
you said no to that, whether itwas in the best interest of the
child for substantial andsignificant time. So it's
removed the requirement for thecourt to go down that pathway,
which is huge.
Natalie (04:50):
So Cailey family violence has been a big and
concerning topic, well, always,but in certainly in 2024 so how
is the family law jurisdictionresponded to this?
Cailey (05:03):
In a number of ways. The parenting amendments that we saw
back in May 2024 startdefinitely recognise and
definitely emphasise the impactof family violence on children
and carers. We see the court asa result of this, arguably more
equipped to respond to domesticand family violence in their
(05:25):
case management and also ensurethat the parties and the
children going throughout courtproceedings are safe. We've also
seen some administrative Isuppose you would call them
changes. So there's legislationnow that allows the court easier
access to information aboutthings like child abuse, family
violence, from welfare agencies,police, those types of
(05:48):
departments, which ultimately, Iwould say, puts the court in a
better position to make informedfindings of risk much, much
quicker. And then very recently,as I mentioned earlier is this
new introduction of the FamilyLaw Amendment Bill that was
passed in November 2024. Wewon't see these changes come
(06:11):
into legal effect until, I wouldsay, about early to mid next
year - 2025. But these changesdefinitely recognise the
economic impact of familyviolence on separated parties
and children as well. And Ithink if I could touch on this a
little bit further, the sort ofthree biggest things that I've
(06:32):
picked out that I thinkcommunity workers should know
about here is - one, there isnow going to be in the
legislation this expressrecognition of economic and
financial abuse as familyviolence, and the new
legislation, ultimately, in itscurrent form anyway, will give
(06:53):
us a definition and provide uswith some examples of that as
well.
So things like controllingaccess to money, sabotaging
income, employment, accumulatingdebt, for example, without their
consent, those types of things.It also codifies what currently
is in case law only, this reallyimportant principle that
(07:14):
recognises family violence isabsolutely a factor that we need
to consider when determining howassets and debt should be
divided, and absolutelysomething that can impact on a
party's ability to contributeduring a relationship and also
impact on someone's economicfuture. So real consequences
(07:35):
that we've seen there, and thisnew legislation will
particularise that in thelegislation and recognise that,
which I think is huge, and thevery, very last one we always
used to have to give advice toparties that animals were just
going to be divided as part ofthe normal asset pool, whereas
(07:57):
now the new legislation proposesto have this new approach in the
legislation. It speaks aboutcompanion animals, in my terms,
household pets, and basically itallows the court more powers, I
suppose, to be able to deal withanimals in new light. So really
considering things like thecircumstances in which the
(08:20):
animal was acquired, anydomestic or family violence as a
part of that relationship, andthe need for that animal to be
with one person over the otherif there has been a history of
actual or threatened sort ofcruelty or abuse towards that
particular animal. So really,again, just equipping the court
(08:42):
with more tools I suppose, to beable to really focus in on and
recognise how family violencehas a huge impact economically,
not just on parenting arrangements.
Natalie (08:54):
Thanks Cailey, that is really good change to hear
about. I know a lot of people,pets are such a huge part of
their lives. And funnily enough,while you were talking about
that, my dog was in thebackground scratching the
carpet. I don't know you couldhear that. She agrees. Pets are
not purely property.
Cailey (09:14):
I agree with her.
Natalie (09:17):
All right. Well, thank you so much for your time today.
I think that was a reallyhelpful wrap up of what's
changed in family law inAustralia in 2024
Cailey (09:30):
You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
Natalie (09:32):
I know family lawyers in Legal Aid often give advice
to people on things like AVOs,the new coercive control laws,
and we will be talking aboutthose with our criminal lawyers
in another podcast. That's allfor this episode. Thank you
again to Cailey for chattingwith us. You can check out our
other episodes in this series,wrapping up what's new in civil
(09:54):
law and criminal law. We'll putthe links to those and more in
the show notes. Bye for now.
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