Family law update

If passed, this legislative measure will expand the current definition of forced marriage contained in the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) to extend to marriages where a victim does not "freely or fully consent" because they are "incapable of understanding the nature and effect of a marriage ceremony", and it will increase the penalties applicable for forced marriage offences (Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers, Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2015, Explanatory Memorandum, p. 1). The taskforce also made recommendations to support an integrated service response that included "an audit of services to ensure adequate resources are available to meet the demand for specialist domestic and family violence services" with a view to establishing a funding and investment model for the long term that will facilitate "collaboration and coordination" and "innovation in service delivery" beginning with: * the immediate initiation of pilots for an "integrated response model"; * a common risk assessment framework in line with best practice; and * legislative and non-legislative steps to promote the sharing of information between agencies (Recommendations 71-79 and 83). [...]examination of the family law courts data and the effects of the broader social policy and legislative context is currently underway as part of the Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments, funded by the Australian Attorney-General's Department.2 The court filings administrative data analysis component of this forthcoming research will include analysis of other key court filings, likely to be affected by the 2012 amendments, such as the issuing of notices of risk, section 60I certificates (relating to family dispute resolution) and other orders related to family violence and child safety concerns, including data from the courts for the 2013-14 financial year. Family Law Council reference on supporting families interacting with the child protection and family law systems The Federal Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis, issued terms of reference to the Family Law Council in October 2014 requesting advice on whether assistance may be provided by relationship support services and court processes that intersect the child protection and family law systems for families involved in parenting disputes experiencing complex needs including family violence and abuse, neglect, mental health issues and substance abuse.