Mahony’s Lawyers attended the 19th National Family Law Conference in Adelaide from Monday 15th – Wednesday 17th of August 2022. The Conference, supported by the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, is the largest Family Law Conference in the world. The Conference was themed ‘Unite’ – particularly relevant as family lawyers travelled from across the country to attend for the first time in four years as a result of the pandemic.
A large focus of the Conference was on family violence as a contemporary issue being faced by many of those navigating the Australian Family Law system.
The Chief Justice and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the Honourable Will Alstergren AO and the Attorney-General, the Honourable Mark Dreyfus QC MP, delivered a state of the nation address outlining the prevalence of family violence in the court system and community and demonstrating the dedication of the Albanese Government in supporting the safety and wellbeing of families.
South Australia is ahead on initiatives promoting the safety of families with the introduction of the Lighthouse Project and the Evatt List in 2020. The Lighthouse Project involves risk screening in parenting matters to highlight those which may require additional support and safety measure to be in place. Matters are then triaged and managed accordingly, with those at a high risk of family violence and safety concerns being placed on the specialist Court List to allow for safeguarding and lead to a safer and better outcome for families.
If you need support navigating the Family Law System, contact Mahony’s lawyers for assistance.