Changes to federal family law and state domestic violence legislation.

The article focuses on family law reforms in Australia. The year 2005 marks 30 years since the proclamation of the Family Law Act 1975. The anniversary falls on the cusp of significant changes, not so much to the Act itself but rather to the family law system as a whole that has evolved since the Act commenced operation on January 5, 1976. The Australian Government's community consultation process on the proposed reforms drew to a close on January 14, 2005, with the receipt of more than 400 submissions. It is anticipated that the Government will announce its final package of reforms in the near future, with legislation likely to be introduced later in 2005. A public education program of some kind is proposed to help explain the changes to the law. As foreshadowed in the Government discussion paper released in 2004, the proposed legislation is likely to include changes to the substantive law seeking to promote shared parenting and shared responsibility for children, procedural reforms relating to the conduct of cases involving children (modeled in part on the Family Court's Children's Cases Program), and amendments introducing compulsory pre-filing mediation.