In a recent article that has conjured up much controversy, former Queensland senator, Bill O’Chee, has cited statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology to support his claim that female perpetrators of family violence ‘usually get a free pass’. The...
In the recent case of Mitchell v Mitchell [2014] FCCA 2526 (14 November 2014), the Federal Circuit Court of Australia discussed at length the dangers of sexual and physical abuse committed against children by people within their immediate family circles. The Court...
In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia has imposed strict parenting arrangements upon the Father of a young daughter, after receiving evidence that the Father could not provide adequate care to the Child as a result of extracurricular activities...
New statistics released by the Childrens Court of Victoria has revealed an alarming increase in the number of domestic violence orders made against children for acts committed against their parents. In 2014 alone, more than 870 children received family violence...
Victoria Police is set to follow in the footsteps of the new Andrews government, committing itself to appointing its first Assistant Commissioner for Domestic Violence, following the assignment of Northcote MP Fiona Richardson as Victoria’s first Minister for...
Premier-elect, Daniel Andrews, has been working hard to bring positive change to Victoria’s discrimination laws just days after winning office. Hours after resuming the newly appointed role of Equality Minister, Martin Foley took no time to promise changes to...
Historically family trusts have caused difficulties in family law property proceedings because if a party to the proceeding was also a beneficiary of the trust, that party would technically not own any property until a distribution occurred. The Family Court’s...
New laws are now in force throughout Victoria criminalising the malicious or deliberate sharing of intimate photos of an adult without their consent, or the sharing of images of anyone under 18 years of age, otherwise known as ‘sexting’. The two new laws attract hefty...
A recent survey of 9856 Australian married adults who admit to cheating on their spouse or partner has revealed that children are one of the reasons that they refrain from getting a divorce. Victoria Milan is a self-proclaimed dating website ‘specially designed for...
‘A recent Family Court decision[1] demonstrates the importance of receiving accurate advice from a solicitor when entering into a binding Financial Agreement, also called a prenup or prenuptial agreement. The Full Court of the Family Court has recently...
New laws that came into effect on Sunday now grant police the power to issue family violence intervention orders 24/7 in a bid to afford greater protection to victims of family violence. Previously, police were only able to issue on-the-spot intervention orders for...
In the recent decision of Hoffman v Hoffman [2014] FamCAFC 92, the Family Court of Australia Full Court found that the previously relied upon ‘notion of special contribution has all been a terrible mistake’ (Hoffman at [61], citing D & D [2005] FamCA 1462 at...
