Appendix 3 List of family law inquiries and reports

At the request of the committee, the Australian Parliamentary Library compiled the following list of family law inquiries and report.

The Family Law Act 1975 received Royal Assent on 12 June 1975 and commenced on 5 January 1976. The ALRC noted in its 2019 report that ‘since the inception of the Family Law Act and the creation of the Family Court, there have been numerous inquiries into the family law system…more recent inquiries in Australia have focused on the intersection between family violence and family law’.1

This list excludes parliamentary committee reports into the provisions of family law Bills. The list does not include reports on family law inquiries conducted by state or territory governments. While a broad scope has been adopted in compiling this list of relevant inquiries and reports, there may be some inadvertent omissions.

Year	Family law inquiry and report
1974	Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Law and administration of divorce and related matters, and the clauses of the Family Law Bill 1974, Final Report, October 1974.
1980	Joint Select Committee on the Family Law Act, Family law in Australia, August 1980. (volume 1 and volume 2)2
1986	P McDonald (ed), Settling up: Property and income distribution on divorce in Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 1986.
1987	Australian Law Reform Commission, Matrimonial property, Report No. 39, 1987.
1987	Family Law Council, Access–some options for reform, 1987.
1988	Family Law Council, Arbitration in family law, February 1988.
1991	Joint Select Committee on Certain Aspects of the Operation and Interpretation of the Family Law Act, The retiring age of judges of the Family Court of Australia, September 1991.
1992	Family Law Council, Patterns of parenting after separation, April 1992.
1992	Family Law Council, The interaction of bankruptcy and family law, June 1992.
1992	Joint Select Committee on Certain Aspects of the Operation and Interpretation of the Family Law Act, Family Law Act 1975: Aspects of its operation and interpretation, November 1992.
1994	Australian Law Reform Commission, Equality before the law: Justice for women, Report No. 69, Part 1, 1994, Chapter 9: Violence and family law Australian Law Reform Commission, Equality before the law: Women's equality, Report No. 69, Part 2, 1994.
1994	B Smyth (ed), Parent–child contact and post-separation parenting arrangements, Research Report No. 9, Australian Institute of Family Studies, June 2004.
1995	Australian Law Reform Commission, For the sake of the kids: Complex contact cases and the Family Court, Report No. 73, 1995.
1995	Joint Select Committee on Certain Family Law Issues, Funding and administration of the Family Court of Australia, November 1995.
1996	Family Law Council, Family law appeals and review: An evaluation of the appeal and review of family law decisions, June 1996.
1996	Family Law Council, Involving and representing children in family law, August 1996.
1996	K Funder and B Smyth, Family law evaluation project 1996: Parental responsibilities: Two national surveys: (Part one: Report), Australian Institute of Family Studies, 1996.
1997	Australian Law Reform Commission, Seen and heard: Priority for children in the legal process, Report No. 84, 1997. See: Chapters 13, 15, 16.
1998	Family Law Council, Child contact orders: Enforcement and penalties, June 1998.
1998	House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, To have and to hold: Strategies to strengthen marriage and relationships, June 1998.
2000	Family Law Council, Litigants in person, August 2000.
2001	Family Law Pathways Advisory Group, Out of the maze: Pathways to the future for families experiencing separation, AGD, Canberra, 2001.
2001	Family Law Council, Cultural-community divorce and the Family Law Act 1975: A proposal to clarify the law, August 2001.
2002	Family Law Council, Family law and child protection: Final report, September 2002.
2003	House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs, Every picture tells a story: Inquiry into child custody arrangements in the event of family separation, December 2003.
2004	Family Law Council, Pathways for children: A review of children's representation in family law, August 2004.
2004	Family Law Council, Recognition of traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child-rearing practices: Response to recommendation 22: Pathways report, Out of the maze, December 2004.
2006	Family Law Council, Relocation, May 2006.
2007	Family Law Council, Collaborative practice in family law, February 2007.
2007	J McIntosh and C Long, Children beyond dispute: a prospective study of outcomes from child focused and child inclusive post-separation family dispute resolution, March 2007, prepared for the Attorney-General's Department.
2007	Family Law Council, Improving post-parenting order processes, October 2007.
2007	L Moloney et al, Allegations of family violence and child abuse in family law children's proceedings: A pre-reform exploratory study, Research paper No. 15, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2007.
2007	D Higgins, Cooperation and coordination: an evaluation of the Family Court of Australia's Magellan case-management model, prepared by the Australian Institute of Family Studies for the Family Court of Australia, 2007.
2008	D Semple, Future governance options for federal family law courts in Australia: Striking the right balance, prepared for the Attorney-General's Department, August 2008.
2009	J McIntosh et al, Children beyond dispute: A four year follow up study of outcomes from child focused and child inclusive post-separation family dispute resolution, April 2009, prepared for the Attorney-General's Department.
2009	R Chisholm, Family courts violence review, November 2009.
2009	Family Law Council, Improving responses to family violence in the family law system: An advice on the intersection of family violence and family law issues, December 2009.
2009	R Kaspiew et al, Evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms, Australian Institute of Family Studies, December 2009.
2010	Australian National Audit Office, Implementation of the Family Relationship Centres initiative, Performance Audit Report No. 1, 2010–11.
2010	D Bagshaw et al, Family violence and family law in Australia: the experiences and views of children and adults from families who separated post-1995 and post-2006, 2 vols, Monash University, University of South Australia, James Cook University, for the Australian Attorney-General's Department, April 2010. (volume 1 and volume 2)
2010	J Cashmore et al, Shared care parenting arrangements since the 2006 family law reforms: Report to the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, UNSW, Social Policy Research Centre, May 2010.
2010	J McIntosh et al, Post-separation parenting arrangements and developmental outcomes for infants and children: Collected reports, prepared for the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, May 2010.
2010	Australian Law Reform Commission and NSW Law Reform Commission, Family violence–A national legal response, Report No. 114, 2 vols, November 2010. (volume 1 and volume 2)
2010	L Qu and R Weston, Parenting dynamics after separation: A follow-up study of parents who separated after the 2006 family law reforms, Australian Institute of Family Studies, December 2010.
2011	National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Centre, Maintaining and enhancing the integrity of ADR processes, February 2011. See: Chapter 6: Family dispute resolution.
2012	Family Law Council, Improving the family law system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients, February 2012.
2012	Family Law Council, Improving the family law system for clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, February 2012.
2013	R Chisholm, Information-sharing in family law & child protection: Enhancing collaboration, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra, March 2013.
2013	Allen Consulting Group, Research on Family Support Program family law services: Final report to Australian Government Attorney-General's Department, May 2013.
2013	Family Law Council, Report on parentage and the Family Law Act, December 2013.
2014	KPMG, Review of the performance and funding of the Federal Court of Australia, the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, prepared for the Attorney-General’s Department, March 2014. (Appendices A-C; Appendices D-G)
2014	R Chisholm, The sharing of experts' reports between the child protection system and the family law system, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra, 2014.
2014	R Kaspiew et al, Independent children’s lawyers study: Final report, 2nd edn, June 2014.
2014	Productivity Commission, Access to justice, Report No. 72, 2 vols, September 2014. (volume 1 and volume 2) Volume 2, chapter 34 deals with the family law system.
2014	L Qu et al, Post-separation parenting, property and relationship dynamics after five years (Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law reforms), Australian Institute of Family Studies, December 2014.
2015	Family Law Council, Families with complex needs and the intersection of the family law and child protection systems: Interim report: Terms 1 & 2, June 2015.
2015	R Kaspiew et al, Evaluation of the 2012 family violence amendments: Synthesis report, (Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments), Australian Institute of Family Studies, October 2015.
2015	R Kaspiew et al, Responding to family violence: A survey of family law practices and experiences (Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments), Australian Institute of Family Studies, October 2015.
2015	R Kaspiew et al, Experiences of separated parents study (Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments), Australian Institute of Family Studies, October 2015.
2015	R Kaspiew et al, Court outcomes project (Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments), Australian Institute of Family Studies, October 2015.
2016	KPMG, Future focus of the family law services: Final report, prepared for the Attorney-General’s Department, January 2016.
2016	Family Law Council, Families with complex needs and the intersection of the family law and child protection systems: Final report: Terms 3, 4 & 5, June 2016.
2017	House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, A better family law system to support and protect those affected by family violence, December 2017.
2018	PricewaterhouseCoopers (Australia), Review of efficiency of the operation of the federal courts: Final report, April 2018.
2018	R Carson et al, Direct cross-examination in family law matters: Incidence and context of direct cross-examination involving self-represented litigants, Australian Institute of Family Studies, June 2018.
2018	R Carson et al, Children and young people in separated families: Family law system experiences and needs, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2018.
2019	Australian Law Reform Commission, Family law for the future, Report No. 135, March 2019.

1

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Australian Law Reform Commission, Family law for the future, Report No. 135, March 2019,
pp. 66–67.
2

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This was the first inquiry and report into the provisions and operation of the Family Law Act 1975 (FLA) and had broad terms of reference.

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