Family Court Issues Tabled
Supplementary Order Papers amending the Family Court Matters Bill have been tabled by Courts Minister, Rick Barker. One
deals with extending government funded supervised contact and allowing Family Courts to approve providers in their local
area. The other seeks to create the new role of Senior Family Court Registrar to assist Judges.
Government funded supervised contact was implemented under the Care of Children Act which came into effect on 1 July
2005. It is currently provided where Family Courts direct formal supervised contact under section the Care of Children
Act 2004, because it is satisfied that a party to proceedings has used violence against a child or other party.
"My Supplementary Order Paper on supervised contact will widen the scope by allowing supervised contact to be funded by
the government when ordered under the Domestic Violence Act.
"This will have an impact on a small number of cases but it seems fair to me that if supervised contact is ordered under
the Domestic Violence Act, affected families should have the same right to government funding as they would if it was
ordered under the Care of Children Act. The main reason for funding supervised contact is to ensure the child’s safety
while recognising the child’s rights to an ongoing relationship with both parents even if the child is not living with
one or both parents.
"I am also seeking to amend the Bill to allow the Family Court to approve providers in their local area this will help
address a shortage of approved providers and supervised contact sessions in some areas."
The second Supplementary Order Paper seeks to establish the position of Senior Family Court Registrar.
"This new position will have a positive impact on the Family Court’s performance by alleviating current pressures on
judicial resources and ensuring that interlocutory applications are dealt with more quickly, especially in smaller
courts, Mr Barker said.
The Family Court Matters Bill has had its second reading and is currently awaiting committee stage.
ends