Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms
A Report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies
In December 2009, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) delivered a report to the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) on its evaluation of the 2006 changes to the Australian family law system.
The evaluation was commissioned in 2006 by the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. It sought to answer a series of evaluation questions. These questions can be found in Chapter 1 of the Report and are answered in Chapter 16 and in the Summary Report.
In order to answer these questions, the AIFS conducted a wide range of surveys and interviews. They surveyed around 24,000 Australian parents and over 500 grandparents. They also took account of around 2,400 responses from professionals working in the family law system and examined more than 1,700 court files.
Summary Report
The summary report contains a concise description of the key findings of the AIFS evaluation, and discusses how these findings relate to the evaluation questions.
View the summary report on the AIFS website.
The Report:
Evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms
The evaluation report comprises 16 chapters and several appendices.
View the evaluation report and appendices on the AIFS website.
Family Courts Violence Review
The Attorney-General appointed Professor Richard Chisholm, former Justice of the Family Court of Australia to review the practices, procedures and laws that apply in the federal family law courts in the context of family violence. A link to Professor Chisholm’s report can be found on the Family Courts Violence Review page.