With the commencement of the Family Law Amendment Act, 2023 in May 2024, a season of change in Australian family law is now upon us all! We have made below what we think might be the shortest possible summary of its provisions. Parents, clients, family mediation, counselling and other service providers in the family law space can use this list this as a prompt, or an index, for further research about the effect of the Family Law Amendment Act changes. You can find our more detailed Insight on the changes here. But for now, here is our quick digest: Children’s best interests: Simplified to one ..read more

The landscape of family law in Australia will experience generational reform on 6th May 2024, with the commencement of the Family Law Amendment Act 2023. The changes will significantly affect a number of participants in the family law system, including parents, mediators, lawyers, family report writers, and community service providers. This Insight is the first in a series of articles that will delve into the many areas addressed by the new law. This ‘Bird’s-Eye’ Insight, being Part 1 of the series, will lay out an overview, a map, of broad sweep of the reforms. Refreshed Focus on Children’s ..read more

From time to time here at Tribe, we count things! And it now appears we have a ‘Top 6 Most Requested’ in our range of Legal Service Products: Number 1: LSP10 Property Settlement Advisory ClinicClients submit their property data in response to a simple questionnaire and in a single-hour consultation receive an answer to That Question: ‘How much am I entitled to’? Afterwards, we provide a tailored Client Action Checklist, to prompt client thought processes and sensible ‘next steps’. $390+GST.   Number 2: LSP15 Litigation Advisory ClinicFor clients at all stages of the court process. Clients ..read more

 The Australian family law system encourages people to reach agreement on their end-of-relationship property settlements without the need for a full court hearing. This is most often achieved in the form of ‘consent orders’ where an agreement on how the property will be share is reached privately between the parties but then formally filed and made enforceable as orders of the court. However, where there has been domestic violence, the court may later find that the consent of one party was not given freely and without coercion. These circumstances may be held to have negated the ..read more

It is a sad reality that the process of adoption does not always result in a successful family unit.  As a result, adult adopted children sometimes wish to reverse an adoption. The reasons for reversing an adoption are many and include relationship breakdown between the adopted child and at least one parent; or the wish to identify, at least formally, with their original, biological family. Then, there are human rights concerns. These include the fact that such a significant decision in a person’s life, being the severing of their birth ties, has been taken without the person’s conse ..read more

In Part 1 of this series of articles, we considered what trauma is, its effects, and the basic elements of trauma-informed legal practice. In Part 2, we looked at how to apply a trauma-informed lens and adjust our approach to relations with the client and taking instructions. In Part 3 now, we investigate how we might make litigation with a  trauma-affected client not only doable but successful. And to protect our clients and ourselves in the process. Adjusting litigation practice We should expect that the experience of litigation will be particularly diffic ..read more

In Part 1 of this series of articles, we considered what trauma is, its effects, and the basic elements of trauma-informed legal practice. Here, we examine how or whether we can ‘see’ trauma and how we might adjust the client relationship in response.  The trauma-informed lens In many of our clients, the effects of trauma are not difficult to see. And in domestic violence, sexual abuse, and criminal injury cases, we can infer that a level of trauma exists and then expect to recognise some effects either sooner or later. But we need to understand that each client’s trau ..read more

Trauma-informed legal practice is not therapy. It is not even ‘touchy-feely’ but rather a pragmatic adjustment of our approach to practice to meet the needs and characteristics of trauma-affected clients so that we can work with them more effectively. We work with many trauma-affected clients, probably more than we know. We can assume that any client who has been afflicted by domestic violence will suffer from trauma. But so may any personal injury client, a family law client, any private client facing litigation, an unfair dismissal client and so on.  Quite possibly, we may be ..read more

Children can have very different views about where they want to live after their parents separate. Some children have no preference or are not able to form one. And some children feel that they want to spend equal time in both households.  But many children strongly feel that they want to live mainly with one particular parent after the separation. It can be a tough challenge, emotionally, if it becomes clear that your child wants to live with the other parent. But there are ways to think this through and to find a way forward that will actually enhance your relationship.  What is r ..read more

Mediation is an effective way to resolve disputes without having to go to court. It’s a great option for people who aren’t comfortable with the idea of going to court. And it has recently become mandatory for most of the people who do want to go to court.  What is mediation in family law? Mediation is a process where two or more parties negotiate an agreement to end a dispute with the assistance of a neutral third party, the mediator, who takes on the role of umpire. Why use mediation in family law proceedings? Mediation is a cost-effective, faster and relatively low-stress method of res ..read more