Family courts 'running up a down escalator' due to increase in cases

Top judge says parents need to be persuaded not to bring childcare cases to court Family courts are having to “run up a down escalator” to keep pace with unprecedented increases in childcare cases. Launching a review of the overburdened system, Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division, said some parents needed to be persuaded not to bring claims to court in order to reduce the pressure. Cuts to legal aid had also resulted in an influx of “litigants in person”, exposing district

George Brandis out to overhaul ‘outdated’ family law

The nation’s family law system faces an overhaul after the government unveiled an inquiry aimed at fixing what it believes is a dysfunctional method of dealing with family breakdown. The terms of reference indicate the government has lost faith in the adversarial system of ­resolving family law disputes and wants the inquiry to look for alternatives in order to save money and ease the trauma on children. Unveiling the inquiry yesterday, Attorney-General George Brandis said there was a “broad

Mother jailed for denying access to boy's dad

THE Family Court sentenced a mother to six months in prison for refusing to let a father see his 11-year-old son. The mother, who cannot be named because it would identify the boy, spent 16 days behind bars before the sentence was stayed on appeal. The judge, federal magistrate Jim Brewster, acknowledged that the boy would be "quite traumatised" by the idea of his mother, with whom he had lived since 2001, being jailed. But, he said, he wanted to deter other parents from acting the same way.