Family Law Act 1975
Sections and provisions with full text and the judgments that cite each one.
Section 47D — Appeals to High Court may not be brought
(1) An appeal must not be brought directly to the High Court from a decree of the following courts exercising jurisdiction under this Act: (a) a court of summary jurisdiction of a State or Territory;…
Section 47E — Regulations to be sole source of certain appellate jurisdiction
Despite the provisions of this Division, a court has appellate jurisdiction in relation to a matter arising under regulations made for the purposes of section 111C only as provided by those…
Section 48 — Divorce
(1) An application under this Act for a divorce order in relation to a marriage shall be based on the ground that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. (2) Subject to subsection (3), in a…
Section 49 — Meaning of separation
(1) The parties to a marriage may be held to have separated notwithstanding that the cohabitation was brought to an end by the action or conduct of one only of the parties. (2) The parties to a…
Section 50 — Effect of resumption of cohabitation
(1) For the purposes of proceedings for a divorce order, where, after the parties to the marriage separated, they resumed cohabitation on one occasion but, within a period of 3 months after the…
Section 51 — Nullity of marriage
An application under this Act for a decree of nullity of marriage shall be based on the ground that the marriage is void.
Section 52 — Court not to make divorce order where application for decree of nullity before it
Where both an application for a decree of nullity of a marriage and an application for a divorce order in relation to that marriage are before a court, the court shall not make a divorce order in…
Section 53 — Circumstances occurring before commencement of Act or outside Australia
A decree may be made, or refused, under this Part by reason of facts and circumstances notwithstanding that those facts and circumstances, or some of them, took place before the commencement of this…
Section 55 — When divorce order takes effect
(1) Subject to this section, a divorce order made under this Act takes effect by force of this section: (a) at the expiration of a period of 1 month from the making of the order; or (b) from the…
Section 55A — Divorce order where children
(1) A divorce order in relation to a marriage does not take effect unless the court has, by order, declared that it is satisfied: (a) that there are no children of the marriage who have not attained…
Section 56 — Certificate as to divorce order
(1) If a divorce order takes effect, the Registry Manager of the court by which the order was made must prepare and file a memorandum of the fact and of the date on which the divorce order took…
Section 57 — Rescission of divorce order where parties reconciled
Despite anything contained in this Part, if a divorce order has been made in relation to a marriage, the court may, at any time before the order takes effect, upon the application of the parties to…
Section 58 — Rescission of divorce order on ground of miscarriage of justice
If a divorce order has been made in proceedings but has not taken effect, the court by which the divorce order was made may, on the application of a party to the proceedings, or on the intervention…
Section 59 — Remarriage
If a divorce order under this Act in relation to a marriage has taken effect, a party to the marriage may marry again.
Section 60 — No appeal after divorce order takes effect
An appeal does not lie from a divorce order after the order takes effect.
Section 60A — What this Division does
This Division contains: (a) a statement of the object of this Part and an outline of this Part (Subdivision B); and (aa) provisions dealing with the best interests of the child in court proceedings…
Section 60CA — Child’s best interests paramount consideration in making a parenting order
In deciding whether to make a particular parenting order in relation to a child, a court must regard the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration.
Section 60EA — Definition of de facto partner
For the purposes of this Subdivision, a person is the de facto partner of another person if: (a) a relationship between the person and the other person (whether of the same sex or a different sex) is…
Section 60HA — Children of de facto partners
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a child is the child of a person who has, or had, a de facto partner if: (a) the child is a child of the person and the person’s de facto partner; or (b) the child…
Section 60B — Objects of Part
The objects of this Part are: (a) to ensure that the best interests of children are met, including by ensuring their safety; and (b) to give effect to the Convention on the Rights of the Child done…
Section 60CB — Proceedings to which Subdivision applies
(1) This Subdivision applies to any proceedings under this Part in which the best interests of a child are the paramount consideration. Note: Division 10 also allows a court to make an order for a…
Section 60HB — Children born under surrogacy arrangements
(1) If a court has made an order under a prescribed law of a State or Territory to the effect that: (a) a child is the child of one or more persons; or (b) each of one or more persons is a parent of…
Section 60C — Outline of Part
An outline of this Part is set out below. OUTLINE OF PART Item Divisions and coverage 1 Division 1—Introductory object of Part and outline of Part best interests of the child: court proceedings best…
Section 60CC — How a court determines what is in a child’s best interests
Determining child’s best interests (1) Subject to subsection (4), in determining what is in the child’s best interests, the court must: (a) consider the matters set out in subsection (2); and (b) if…
Section 60CD — How the views of a child are expressed
(1) Paragraph 60CC(2)(b) requires the court to consider any views expressed by a child in deciding whether to make a particular parenting order in relation to the child. This section deals with how…
Section 60D — Adviser’s obligations in relation to best interests of the child
(1) If an adviser gives advice or assistance to a person about matters concerning a child and this Part, the adviser must: (a) inform the person that the person should regard the best interests of…
Section 60CE — Children not required to express views
Nothing in this Part permits the court or any person to require the child to express his or her views in relation to any matter.
Section 60E — Application of Part to void marriages
This Part applies in relation to a purported marriage that is void as if the purported marriage were a marriage.
Section 60CF — Informing court of relevant family violence orders
(1) If a party to the proceedings is aware that a family violence order applies to the child, or a member of the child’s family, that party must inform the court of the family violence order. (2) If…
Section 60F — Certain children are children of marriage etc.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a child is (subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4)) a child of a marriage if: (a) the child is the child of both parties to the marriage, whether born before or…
Section 60CG — Court to consider risk of family violence
(1) In considering what order to make, the court must, to the extent that it is possible to do so consistently with the child’s best interests being the paramount consideration, ensure that the…
Section 60G — Leave may be granted for adoption proceedings by prescribed adopting parent
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2), the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory or the Family Court of a State may grant leave for…
Section 60CH — Informing court of care arrangements under child welfare laws
(1) If a party to the proceedings is aware that the child, or another child who is a member of the child’s family, is under the care (however described) of a person under a child welfare law, that…
Section 60H — Children born as a result of artificial conception procedures
(1) If: (a) a child is born to a woman as a result of the carrying out of an artificial conception procedure while the woman was married to, or a de facto partner of, another person (the other…
Section 60CI — Informing court of notifications to, and investigations by, information sharing agencies
(1) If: (a) a party to the proceedings is aware that the child, or another child who is a member of the child’s family, is or has been the subject of: (i) a notification or report (however described)…
Section 60I — Attending family dispute resolution before applying for Part VII order
Object of this section (1) The object of this section is to ensure that all persons who have a dispute about matters that may be dealt with by an order under this Part (a Part VII order) make a…
Section 60J — Family dispute resolution not attended because of child abuse or family violence
(1) If: (a) subsections 60I(7) to (14) apply to an application for a Part VII order (see subsection 60I(6)); and (b) in relation to the application, the court has granted the applicant an exemption…
Section 61A — What this Division does
This Division deals with the concept of parental responsibility including, in particular: (a) what parental responsibility is; and (b) who has parental responsibility.
Section 61CA — Consultation between parents on major long-term issues
If it is safe to do so, and subject to any court orders, the parents of a child who is not yet 18 are encouraged: (a) to consult each other about major long-term issues in relation to the child; and…
Section 61DAA — Effect of parenting order that provides for joint decision-making about major long-term issues
(1) If a parenting order provides for joint decision-making by persons in relation to all or specified major long-term issues in relation to a child, then, except to the extent the order otherwise…
Section 61B — Meaning of parental responsibility
In this Part, parental responsibility, in relation to a child, means all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, parents have in relation to children.
Section 61DAB — No need to consult on issues that are not major long-term issues
(1) If a child is spending time with a person at a particular time under a parenting order, the order is taken not to require the person to consult a person who: (a) has parental responsibility for…
Section 61C — Each parent has parental responsibility (subject to court orders)
(1) Each of the parents of a child who is not 18 has parental responsibility for the child. Note 1: This section states the legal position that prevails in relation to parental responsibility to the…
Section 61D — Parenting orders and parental responsibility
(1) A parenting order confers parental responsibility for a child on a person, but only to the extent to which the order confers on the person duties, powers, responsibilities or authority in…
Section 61E — Effect of adoption on parental responsibility
(1) This section applies if: (a) a child is adopted; and (b) immediately before the adoption, a person had parental responsibility for the child, whether in full or to a limited extent and whether…
Section 61F — Application to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children
In: (a) applying this Part to the circumstances of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child; or (b) identifying a person or persons who have exercised, or who may exercise, parental…
Section 62A — What this Division does
This Division deals with the preparation of reports for use in proceedings relating to children who are under 18.
Section 62B — Court’s obligation to inform people to whom Part VII orders apply about family counselling, family dispute resolution and other family services
If a court makes an order in proceedings under this Part, the court must inform the parties to the proceedings about the family counselling services, family dispute resolution services and other…
Section 62G — Reports by family consultants
(1) This section applies if, in proceedings under this Act, the care, welfare and development of a child who is under 18 is relevant. (2) The court may direct a family consultant to give the court a…
Section 63A — What this Division does
This Division explains what parenting plans are.