Changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) under the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 have effect from 10 June 2025.
The bulk of the amendments relate to property matters, including:
- significant changes to s 79 of the Act by codifying the four-step process and bringing the s 75(2) considerations into s 79;
- introducing a new s 79(5) concerning material wastage of assets by one party and the treatment of liabilities;
- new principles for conducting proceedings;
- adding the pre-action disclosure obligations in the FCFCOA’s rules into the Family Law Act;
- requiring greater consideration of the impacts of family violence on property division, including introducing a new 79(4)(ca) relating to the effect of family violence on a party’s ability to make contributions to the marriage, and adding examples under the definition of family violence of economic or financial abuse;
- a new s 79AA making property orders enforceable against the estate of a deceased party;
- a new definition of companion animals and the ability for the court to make orders about ownership of them, including transfer to a third party;
- extension of the Less Adversarial Trial process to property cases in certain circumstances;
- expanding the court’s power to order arbitration.
Amendments that are not specific to property cases include:
- repealing ss 44(1B) and 44(1C) to remove the limitation on divorce orders within 2 years of marriage;
- the requirement for an appearance at a divorce hearing by a sole applicant where there are children under 18 years;
- updating the costs provisions in the Act by introducing a new Part XIVC and repealing ss 117, 117AA, 117AC, 117C(2);
- more comprehensive regulation of children’s contact services;
- introducing a new Division 1B in Part XI, being a scheme to protect sensitive information held by professional service providers.
The By Lawyers Property Settlement and 101 Family Law Answers publications have been updated accordingly.
Some changes under the amending Act commenced on 11 December 2024. They related to Commonwealth Information Orders in children proceedings, and separation declarations relevant to financial agreements. The Children and Financial Agreements commentaries have already been updated for those changes.
In the course of these updates, all the By Lawyers Family Law publications have been thoroughly reviewed and enhanced. Subscribers will notice new and revised commentary, re-ordering of content in the commentaries and on the matter plans, new and amended precedents, new cases, and updated links to legislation and other useful resources. As always, we welcome feedback from our users about these publication updates to: askus@bylawyers.com.au