Chapter 1 - Introduction

1.1 On 23 June 2004, the Senate referred the provisions of the Family Law Amendment Bill 2004 to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee for inquiry and report by 30 July 2004.

Key provisions of the Bill

1.2 The Bill seeks to amend the Family Law Act 1975 (the Act) for several purposes. The Bill is divided into 19 Parts.

Conduct of the inquiry

1.3 The Committee wrote to over 60 individuals and organisations inviting submissions by 28 June 2004. Details of the inquiry, the Bill and associated documents were also placed on the Committee's website.

1.4 The Committee received 10 submissions and 2 supplementary submission; these are listed at Appendix 1. Submissions were placed on the Committee's website for ease of access by the public.

1.5 The Committee held a public hearing in Canberra on 1 July 2004. A list of witnesses who appeared at the hearing is at Appendix 2 and copies of the Hansard transcript are available through the internet at: http://aph.gov.au/hansard.

Acknowledgment

1.6 The Committee thanks those organisations and individuals who made submissions and gave evidence at the public hearing.

Notes on references

1.7 References in this report are to individual submissions as received by the Committee, not to a bound volume. References to the Committee Hansard are to the proof Hansard: page numbers may vary between the proof and the official Hansard transcript.