Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

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Recommended: Divorce And Conflict Theory

1. Assess the ability of the law in resolving conflict and encouraging cooperation during divorce and other aspects of family law.

Prior to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), divorce was dealt with under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 (Cth). The notion of divorce and how it was handled was very different when compared to today. Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 (Cth) 14 grounds for divorce were outlined and typically, couples wishing for a divorce often despised each other and they blamed one another for the breakdown of the marriage. Through this Act, a couple had to meet the grounds for divorce and wait 5 years to obtain a divorce. However, the introduction to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in 1975 saw the concept of divorce change, particularly how it was dealt with. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) introduced ‘no fault’ divorce, which meant that …show more content…

However, compulsory counselling is often unsuccessful as couples dislike being forced to attend. In 2006 the Federal Government established Family Relationship Centres (FRCs) with the aim of assisting couples in the need of counselling and mediation. The introduction of these centres highlights how the government and the law are cooperating to ensure the resolution of conflict and encouragement of cooperation during divorce are addressed successfully. The statistic that 95% of divorces are settled out of court emphasises the fact that the law is doing its utmost to ensure that couples cooperate together, idealistically, out of the court system as court procedures are adversarial and parties often return to court to argue issues that emerge after the divorce, and nonetheless, court processes are very expensive. So with the establishment of FRCs we see the cooperation of couples as they have to divide property on their own and the resolution of conflict as they talk about their issues, instead of arguing about them in

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