MEDIA RELEASE

16/08/2019

 

An emotive public forum hosted by One Nation outside Perth has helped further expose the inconsistencies of Australia’s struggling family law system, and added further fuel to the party’s push for a national inquiry into the sector.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says the situation is desperate for many broken families whose struggles are not properly addressed by a legal system that is supposed to make their lives easier during difficult times.

“The family law and child support system has deteriorated to a point that it is becoming unworkable – it is making life unbearable for many fathers, mothers and, most concerning, their children who are particularly vulnerable during these emotional times,” Senator Hanson said.

“Broken families are struggling to negotiate what has become a minefield of confusion, inconsistency, administrative failures and errors, unfair and damaging court rulings, crippling legal and child support costs, a lack of compassion from key players, and more.

“The system is contributing to ruining people, causing health and mental health problems, extreme financial distress, suicides, and psychologically-damaged children – it is supposed to help these people, not make their lives worse.

“Sadly, up to now there has been a lack of political will to fix this mess; it is time for the Government to give the green light to my call for a Joint Select Committee on Reform of Australia’s Family Law System – we need a wide-reaching and thorough investigation, with everyone’s input, so we can come up with solutions and formulate positive change.”

Around 200 people attended the “Family Law and Child Support Community Forum”, held in Mandurah and hosted by One Nation’s member of Western Australia’s Legislative Council, Colin Tincknell.

“There are too many people impacted negatively each year by the family law hardships – one murder every week and three suicides a day,” Mr Tincknell told guests at the event.

“It is an emotional issue, most people in this room feel that pain. What we are trying to do is create a momentum – both state-wide and federally – so we can make legislative changes.

“So, my leader in the Federal Parliament, Senator Hanson, is going to need your support and many other people, and we’re going to try to convince other politicians to make the changes that are needed.”

Guest speakers at the forum included Mr Tincknell, One Nation’s Robin Scott MLC, former WA Law reform Commissioner Prof Augusto Zimmermann and family law experts. Keynote speaker Senator Hanson was a late withdrawal due to the flu, but had her speech delivered at the forum on her behalf. She aims to reschedule a visit to the community in coming months.

Guests at the forum revealed some of the horror stories that have impacted their dealings with the family law system:

One man said he was ordered to pay child support equal to 200% of his annual income, leaving him close to destitute.

Another spoke of a seven-year-old girl so traumatised by her experiences that she planned to commit suicide  in the hope she would be reborn “like in a video game, and everything would be okay”.

One attendee queried why his partner could breach court agreements or fail to turn up at hearings and face no threat of reprimand, yet he felt no similar leniency.

Several spoke of being accused of false abuses that never occurred or being slapped with Violence Restraining Orders for the most menial of matters, at times resulting in criminal convictions that further complicated their lives.

Others spoke of being denied time with their children, even though they contributed considerable child support payments.

Senator Hanson has a number of personal reforms that were outlined at the forum:

• A review of child support, to ensure it is a fair amount that is calculated by considering the needs of the children, but also ensures it is not a crushing amount for the payee – usually the male;
• Mandatory 50/50 child access for both parents, which is vital to minimise negative impacts on the children. The only alleviating factors would be if one of the ex-partners has a serious criminal record, if one of the ex-partners has a drug offences record, or if there is a Domestic Violence order in place;
• The introduction of limits on legal costs to ensure those involved are better able to get on with their lives financially after their legal matters are finalised, and to reduce instances of lawyers deliberately dragging out the proceedings to inflate their incomes;
• Better resourcing of the Family Court to improve efficiencies and reduce stressful drawn-out court hearings, including more funding, more judges and staff;
• Registrars to be able to oversee early court mentions, rather than wasting valuable time waiting for judges to make basic decisions on simple procedural matters.

Other points raised at the forum included: cancelling the child support system altogether, recognition that the child support system provided a financial incentive to lodge false abuse allegations, that criminal charges (other than perjury) should be introduced for false allegations of violence or abuse from ex-partners, and the need for improved professional support to address children’s psychological needs.

Senator Hanson’s request for the establishment of the Joint Select Committee on Reform of Australia’s Family Law System is currently being considered by Attorney General Christian Porter.

“I have received support for that committee request from all sides of politics – from Labor members and from Coalition members – so it’s clear that there is a general consensus that this should be investigated and something should be done about it,” Sen Hanson said.

“For a long time, politicians haven’t been interested, lawyers are not interested, it’s too difficult an issue for many in the media so they’re not interested, but meantime hundreds of thousands of families are crumbling.

“Most of those impacted by family break-up who have had to endure the Family Law system in Australia would have some suggestions on where and how the system can be improved.

“If we manage to get 200 needy people to a forum in a small Western Australian community to discuss this issue, it shows just how enormous this need could be across all of Australia.”

Mr Tincknell and fellow Western Australia One Nation representative Robin Scott MLC are also pushing to establish a similar Western Australia Legislative Council Select Committee to investigate the Western Australian Family Court.

The Family Law and Child Support Community Forum identified overwhelmingly that there was a need in the community to initiate change to the family law system in Australia. The event was at times rowdy and emotional, which further highlighted the belief that the issue was ripe for high-level review and changes.

As one attendee called out: “All of us have been through hell at many levels; we’re not angry, we’re exhausted.”

 

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