2024 Family Law Amendments

* Amendments to the Family Law Act

Many of our lawyers here are struggling to understand the impact of the * amendments to the australian family law Act as they pertain to parenting orders. They seem to have understood how the amended Section * CC functions in relation to a best interests analysis, but are a bit confused about the subsequent two steps in a Goode and Goode legislative analysis. Could you draft me a short note that explains how parental responsibility and care/time arrangements would have been allocated in this case prior to * May, *? It’s fine if you conclude we would have ended up with the exact same result. I just need to illustrate to the other lawyers how the reasoning process has changed.”

please make your answer250 words

please re answer using this transcript as the previously mentioned "case" to answer Sarah (Lawyer): Good morning. Thanks for coming in today. I just wanted to check, is it pronounced Ri-zia? Razia (Client): It’s Raaz-e-ya. Sarah: Great, thanks Razia. Razia: Thank you for giving me this appointment at such short notice. It’s been a struggle. (Razia is visibly shaken) Sarah: That's absolutely fine. We’re here to help. Can I get you some water or tea before we start? Razia: Water would be nice, thank you. (Sarah offers Razia a glass of water and sits down, maintaining a calm demeanour.) Sarah: So how can we help you Razia? Razia: I’m just trying to make sure I don’t lose my children, things have been so hard and my partner – or I guess, my ex-partner now – has just been so difficult to deal with. Difficult isn’t adequate, terrifying really, that’s a better description. And my son Robbie is so important to me, I don’t know what will happen if I lose him. Sarah: I completely understand how terrifying that thought is. I want to assure you that the fear you are currently feeling is incredibly common and something shared by many of our clients navigating the system. (Razia nods and takes a big sip of water) Sarah: Why don’t you start by telling me a bit more about your former partner? When did you meet him? Razia: Her – Sarah: My apologies. When did you meet her? Razia: First year uni actually. But Lucia and I were just friends for a while. It took us a few years to realise there was something more then. Sarah: And when was your first year at Uni? Razia: Oh sorry – *. Sarah: That’s alright, just helps to get the timeline in order. So you met Lucia in *, and your relationship started a while later? Razia: Yes, not for another 5 years actually. We worked part time in the same café at Melbourne Uni. I think we were drawn to each other because of our migrant backgrounds, we’re both second generation immigrants. Lucia’s from Sicily, and my family moved here from Delhi. So that was something to bond over. I miss that. I miss who she was back then. I just – (Razia stops as her voice starts to crack) Sarah: I understand how difficult this. Please take your time. It’s going to be a hard process but we’re here to support you. Razia: Thank you. Okay. I was saying. We were very close friends, we were inseparable, the three of us. Sarah: The three of you? Razia: Oh right, there was Shekhar. He was another student doing part-time work at the café. Shekhar was also from Delhi. He’d just come over to Australia for Uni, his family was back in India. He’s there with them now, did his little good deed and went back. Sarah: His what? Razia: Sorry I’m all over the place. Shekhar was our donor. Well, rather, Lucia’s donor. We finished Uni, Lucia got this high paying job as a Deloitte consultant and decided she wanted a baby. And Shekhar was ready and willing. He didn’t really want to be involved in any other way at that point, but he was more than happy to be the donor. Sarah: And what about you? Razia: I decided to get an additional qualification in Public Health, and then get a job as a harm reduction practitioner at a medically supervised drug injecting room in the city. I wanted to improve the lives of marginalised people who inject drugs – one of my close friends passed away from an overdose and it’s something that I’ve been passionately invested in as a cause since then. Sarah: I see, that’s an extremely challenging line of work but must be quite rewarding too. I also meant, how were you involved at this point with Lucia? Razia: We’d remained good friends through the years, and then when Lucia began to attempt to conceive she also began to think about how she didn’t want to be alone. I suppose it just made her feel vulnerable. And then in May * it all happened. Sarah: What happened? Razia: We realised we had romantic feelings for each other at the start of May – it was my birthday, we’d had a big party. Hilariously, it took us two weeks after that to move in together – I moved in to her house. And then, at the end of that very same month, she had a successful conception with Shekhar. Sarah: How did you feel about it? Razia: About our child? I was over the moon. I’d always wanted children but wasn’t sure I would be able to support them financially with my chosen profession. And to then find a partner and realise we would become a family immediately after! What more could I want? Sarah: I can imagine, Razia. Now, could you tell me about your relationship with Lucia during the pregnancy and after Robbie was born? Razia: Well, things were good at first. We were both excited and busy getting ready for Robbie. And Shekhar was around to help for a lot of the little tasks. But then, once Robbie was born in February, things began to change. Sarah: In what manner? Razia: It started when Lucia began expressing discomfort about my line of work. She was worried that one of my clients would randomly follow me home after work. It was completely irrational because we have very strong procedures in place, but it didn’t seem to matter to her, she became increasingly paranoid about Robbie’s safety. Sarah: And how did you respond? Razia: I resisted at first, but she made it so difficult … I had to quit. She promised to take care of all the finances, and that was fair because she definitely could. She was making * times my pay! Sarah: So you became a stay at home mother? Razia: Yes that’s right. Shekhar would still come around and help from time to time, but otherwise it was mostly me and Robbie at home, and we’d see Lucia in the late evenings when she would come back from work. I was happy to do it, but then Lucia started getting increasingly particular about the finances. She would look over receipts from my visits to our local café and all the tiniest of expenditures I made and constantly ask if it was necessary for me to spend as much as I was. One day she saw that I had paid for two coffees at the café and flew into a rage when I told her I had paid for Shekhar who had come to help me with childcare that day. She accused us of having an affair. Sarah: I see. And did that have an impact on your relationship with Shekhar? Razia: He was my closest friend. After that happened, he grew increasingly distant from me. I would go from months without hearing from him, until he eventually fell out of touch. The last I heard, he’d gone back to India. Sarah: I’m sorry to hear that, it must have been hard. Razia: It was difficult … for both me and for Robbie. Robbie had gotten used to having Shekhar in his life and really struggled afterwards. Anyway, I thought maybe things would get better after that, but it just became a lot worse somehow. Lucia would start each week by making me provide a detailed justification for the weekly expenditure. And then sometimes she would just give me half the money I needed for the household, saying I didn’t deserve it. Sarah: That sounds very stressful. Did she ever threaten you physically or harm you or Robbie? Razia: She had an incredibly hot temper but would wait till Robbie was asleep before she began to yell at me. One night after she was done yelling, I walked past Robbie’s room to go to the bathroom and wash my face, and saw that his room lights were on. Sometimes she would throw things, like a family portrait of my parents which she shattered to the floor. I remember Robbie helping me clean up the mess the following morning while I cried. Sarah: I see. Did Robbie ever say anything about this to you? Razia: Not then, but he didn’t need to. He barely spent any time with Lucia, I might as well have been his only parent. I would go to all his school events, I would help him with studying, I would take him to the playground. I also made sure we spent time connecting with South Asian culture in the city. Sarah: I notice that you’ve been speaking in past tense … ? Razia: Oh! Yes, because, because – I’m sorry, I’m just so overwhelmed since she took him away, I’m a mess and I can’t keep it together I don’t know what to do – (Razia starts to cry) Sarah: Razia, have you considered therapy? Razia: Excuse me?! Sarah: No I just meant – Razia: My life is falling apart, what could talking to a shrink possibly fix, I came to you for a solution, not to be talked down to! Sarah: You are absolutely right. My job is to help you. I mis-spoke, it’s just been a long day for me, I clearly need a break. Would it be okay if we take a brief moment, and then I can make sure I’m better equipped to be of proper assistance to you? (Razia calms down and nods) (Ten minutes later) Sarah: Thanks for your patience Razia. Is it alright if we continue? Razia: Yes it’s fine. Sarah: You mentioned that Lucia had taken Robbie away. Could you please tell me the immediate circumstances that led to this happening? Razia: At the end of May this year, I decided I had had enough of being cooped up at home and decided to get back into a part-time role as a supervisor at a new safe drug injecting room that had opened up. Robbie is now * and is away at school for enough hours to make this workable for me. I applied for the job, got accepted, and only informed Lucia after I finished the first week of work. I thought once she saw I was being able to balance this with taking care of Robbie, everything would be fine. Sarah: But it wasn’t? Razia: She didn’t react when I first told her, just smiled at me strangely. Everything was perfectly normal for a few days. Then, four days after I told her, I got back from work to find that all of Lucia’s and Robbie’s things were missing, along with some of our furniture. I almost collapsed from panic. Lucia wouldn’t answer her calls. The day after that, I went to Robbie’s school first thing in the morning and found that he hadn’t come in. When I went to my workplace, Lucia’s cousin, Gary turned up and said had a message from Lucia – that if I learnt to behave, she might consider coming back. Sarah: Were you able to get in touch with Robbie? Razia: Throughout June, Gary would show up outside my workplace and check to see if I was there. He would glare at me and then walk away. It happens less frequently now, but it hasn’t stopped and it’s been terrifying. I would occasionally get messages from Lucia saying “looks like the lesson hasn’t sunk in”. But no contact from Robbie, he doesn’t have a phone and he wouldn’t show up at school. Two nights ago, I got a message from Lucia’s phone. (At this point, Razia passes her phone over to Sarah to show her the message. It reads: “mum I miss you so much please come get me I’m scared. she says she’s going to take me to New Zealand next week and that she’ll never let me see you again. Yesterday I said something in Hindi and she grabbed and screamed at me and said if I used that language again she would throw me out of the house. I don’t want to go away I want to stay at my school with my friends and with you. Please come get me please I hate staying with her. We’re staying at Nonna’s place”) Sarah: So do you know where they are right now? Razia: Yes it turns out they’ve been at Lucia’s mother’s house in the Dandenongs. Lucia is serious about taking them to New Zealand, she’s even got a job lined up there. Apparently she had been planning a change for a while. Anyway, she can’t go, she can’t take Robbie, I won’t let her. I know it’s not my name on the birth certificate – Sarah: It’s not? Razia: No, we put Shekhar’s name on there, it was a gesture of goodwill. But that shouldn’t matter should it, I was there from the very start, I’m Robbie’s mother, more than she will ever be. Sarah: Razia, we’re going to do everything we can to help. Razia: Thank you. I just … I don’t know if this is possible, but I had a request. Sarah: Of course, tell me? Razia: I … I don’t ever want to have to be in the same room as Lucia or her family again. I don’t think I could handle it. Just repeating all of this … I’m shaking. Sarah: Of course. I assure you, we will do everything we can. I wanted to circle back to a point I’d raised earlier if that’s alright? Razia: Yes Sarah: I’ve found during my family law practice that many of my clients have benefited enormously from talking to a counsellor colleague of mine. We have a long and difficult road ahead of us, and my clients often tell me how much speaking to him has helped them navigate the journey with more resilience. Just let me give you his name and number and you can decide whether you’d like to see him or not. Meanwhile, we’ll get started on making sure you get to see Robbie again at the earliest. Does that sound okay? Razia: Yes, yes it does. Thank you, I can see how it would be nice to talk to someone. Sarah: Thank you for coming in and taking this first step. I’m going to get back to you at the earliest with a plan of action. We’ll make sure you have a sense of all the ways forward, and we’ll figure out a plan together. Razia: Thank you so much … I’ve been feeling so powerless. That helps.