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New Women’s Economic Security Statement Will Help Domestic Violence Victims

Announcement posted by Divorce.com.au 22 Dec 2018

Family law firm Watts McCray has published details of the new government initiative - the Women’s Economic Security Statement. It has detailed the impact of the initiative on family law matters and has covered in detail its main features - the small claims property pilot, lawyer assisted property mediations, superannuation and family violence measures.

On 20 November 2018, the Commonwealth Government announced a new package of funding measures; the Women’s Economic Security Statement.  The package includes access to superannuation and eligibility for no-interest loans for women including those leaving relationships of domestic violence.  The package also proposes a new settlement process for small property pool disputes in family law matters.

The sweeping changes were instigated by the minister for women, Kelly O’Dwyer. In the first Women’s Economic Security Statement, an initiative announced in the 2018 budget, O’Dwyer unveiled a range of modest initiatives in the four-year A$109 million package.

The package provides for $5.9 million to fund federal Family Courts and the Attorney-General’s Department to conduct a two year trial of a new process designed to create faster resolution of property disputes where the parties property pool is less than $500,000. The pilot is proposed to be run in selected Family Court Registries across Australia.  There will be two options for separated couples with a net asset pool of under $500,000:

1.      Registrar Led Resolution – to assist couples to prepare and file Consent Orders.

2.      Judge Led Resolution – where matters are allocated to a Judge to determine the property dispute using a “short form process which may include dealing with the matter without a hearing.”

There is to be a two-year trial of funding for Legal Aid lawyers to provide advice and assistance to parties to resolve their property disputes if their net asset pools are under $500,000. There is also additional funding for Family Relationship Centres to provide mediation services in property disputes. Victims of family and domestic violence will also be eligible to apply for early release of their superannuation. 

In 2018, the Attorney-General introduced the Family Law Amendment (Family Violence & Cross-Examination of Partners) Bill 2018 to ban perpetrators of family violence from cross-examining their victims in family law proceedings. There will now be funding for Legal Aid to provide representation to self-represented parties subject of the ban. There has also been further funding announced for Legal Aid’s specialist domestic violence units and Health Justice partnerships. These services deliver legal assistance to family violence victims at hospital and health centres.

Watts McCray is committed to excellence in client service with a focus on family law. They keep up with the latest changes in legislation and are able to advise their clients the best course of action when dealing with family matters.

Watts McCray’s website https://www.divorce.com.au/ provides detailed information and guides to help people understand the filing, waiting periods, and other complexities of the divorce process – as well as other considerations that may arise. It also provides information on separation and divorce, best divorce lawyer Sydney, de-facto relationships separation entitlements, divorce and property and more.