11MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE
Message No. 48, 18 September 2019, from the Senate was reported informing the House that the Senate had agreed to the following resolution:
(1)That a joint select committee, to be known as the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System, be established to inquire into and report on the following matters:
(a)ongoing issues and further improvements relating to the interaction and information sharing between the family law system and state and territory child protection systems, and family and domestic violence jurisdictions, including:
(i)the process, and evidential and legal standards and onuses of proof, in relation to the granting of domestic violence orders and apprehended violence orders; and
(ii)the visibility of, and consideration given to, domestic violence orders and apprehended violence orders in family law proceedings;
(b)the appropriateness of family court powers to ensure parties in family law proceedings provide truthful and complete evidence, and the ability of the court to make orders for non-compliance and the efficacy of the enforcement of such orders;
(c)beyond the proposed merger of the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court any other reform that may be needed to the family law and the current structure of the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court;
(d)the financial costs to families of family law proceedings, and options to reduce the financial impact, with particular focus on those instances where legal fees incurred by parties are disproportionate to the total property pool in dispute or are disproportionate to the objective level of complexity of parenting issues, and with consideration being given amongst other things to banning ‘disappointment fees’, and:
(i)capping total fees by reference to the total pool of assets in dispute, or any other regulatory option to prevent disproportionate legal fees being charged in family law matters; and
(ii)any mechanisms to improve the timely, efficient and effective resolution of property disputes in family law proceedings;
(e)the effectiveness of the delivery of family law support services and family dispute resolution processes;
(f)the impacts of family law proceedings on the health, safety and wellbeing of children and families involved in those proceedings;
(g)any issues arising for grandparent carers in family law matters and family law court proceedings;
(h)any further avenues to improve the performance and monitoring of professionals involved in family law proceedings and the resolution of disputes, including agencies, family law practitioners, family law experts and report writers, the staff and judicial officers of the courts, and family dispute resolution practitioners;
(i)any improvements to the interaction between the family law system and the child support system;
(j)the potential usage of pre-nuptial agreements and their enforceability to minimise future property disputes; and
(k)any related matters;
(2)That the committee consist of 10 members:
(a)3 members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Government Whip or Whips;
(b)2 members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Opposition Whip or Whips;
(c)1 member of the House of Representatives to be nominated by any minority party or independent member;
(d)2 senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;
(e)1 senator to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; and
(f)1 senator to be nominated by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation;
(3)That participating members may be appointed to the committee, may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of a member of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee;
(4)That every nomination of a member of the committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(5)That the members of the committee hold office as a joint select committee until the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires by effluxion of time;
(6)That the committee elect as its chair a member nominated by the Government Whip or Whips;
(7)That the committee elect a non-Government member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee, and at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members present shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting;
(8)That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, has a casting vote;
(9)That 3 members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include 1 Government member of either House and 1 non-Government member of either House;
(10)That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 3 or more of its members, and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine;
(11)That the committee appoint the chair of each subcommittee who shall have a casting vote only, and at any time when the chair of a subcommittee is not present at a meeting of the subcommittee the members of the subcommittee present shall elect another member of that subcommittee to act as chair at that meeting;
(12)That 2 members of a subcommittee constitute a quorum of that subcommittee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include 1 Government member of either House and 1 non-Government member of either House;
(13)That members of the committee who are not members of a subcommittee may participate in the proceedings of that subcommittee but shall not vote, move any motion or be counted for the purpose of a quorum;
(14)That the committee or any subcommittee have power to call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced;
(15)That the committee or any subcommittee may conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit and sit in public or private;
(16)That the committee or any subcommittee have power to adjourn from time to time and to sit during any adjournment of the Senate and the House of Representatives;
(17)That the committee may report from time to time, but that it present its final report by no later than 7 October 2020; and
(18)That the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.
The Senate requests the concurrence of the House in this resolution.