Summary

Amends the:

to: amend the parenting order framework by refining the list of ‘best interests’ factors, removing the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and related equal time and substantial and significant time provision, and clarifying the circumstances in which a court can vary an existing parenting order; redraft provisions relating to compliance with, and enforcement of, parenting orders; amend definitions relating to the concept of ‘family’ to be more inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and traditions; permit the appointment of independent children’s lawyers (ICLs) in matters brought under the Hague Convention and require ICLs to meet with a child and give them an opportunity to express a view; clarify restrictions on communicating identifiable information arising in family proceedings; and enable standards and requirements to be prescribed for professionals who prepare family reports; and to make consequential amendments; to: allow registrars of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) to be delegated the power to impose a make-up time parent order in contravention proceedings; bring forward the review of the Act by 2 years; and provide that a judge of the Family Court of Western Australia can be dually appointed as a judge of Division 1 of the FCFCOA; and and to introduce ‘harmful proceedings orders’ and extend the ‘overarching purpose of family law practice and procedure’ and the accompanying duty to all proceedings instituted under the .