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FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA 2.1.3 Adequate gateways and gatekeepers ■ One address for help would be good – or identifiable and accessible gatekeeper(s) in the community. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ No point in one gateway into the system if the system itself is complex. Community agencies are doing the previous FCoA pre-filing conciliation in different ways. May be an inconsistent understanding of the FCoA. Mediators may be the key. People turn to the Court but its counselling service is no longer available. CLCs are now collecting ‘referred by’ information. Common referrals are legal aid, Centrelink, FCoA and CSA (not as many). Much comes by word of mouth. Community Service Offices (CSO) could be used to distribute information and assistance to the general population on: ~ Rules of the court ~ Relevant part of the Family Law Act (FLA) ~ Easy and comprehensive instructions on how to complete documents. ■ There is a plethora of contact points which are not all going in the same direction. 2.1.4 The importance of good community education prior to becoming involved with the Court. ■ FCoA should work together with local service providers to educate the local community to strengthen the vision that the court be the last point of call not the first, by directing prospective clients at the initial advice stage towards mediation and conciliation and other options available ■ The importance of local coordination between the community agencies and between them and the FCoA, where the capacity to provide the service is a significant issue. 2.1.5 Highlighting the alternatives to the court system ■ Differences of separating clients should be noted – not all need to go to court. Ways to send people to what suits their need should be developed. Men and women may be at different stages after separation. ■ ■ Relationships Australia provides an intake interview free of charge which looks into where the parties are. Community groups have good referral networks and plenty of people coming to them. Careful about overload of current resources. Word of mouth is often how networks operate. 32
Self-represented Litigants ~ A Challenge: PROJECT REPORT ■ ■ ■ ■ FCoA recognises there are clients who need not come to court. Needs to do more asking ‘why are you here?’ Could do this better if it had more prefiling services. Can people have initial court contact without it being adversarial? Better information on the costs of taking the litigation path and potential for no or adverse outcome. However, there is sometimes the need to make a decision to tide people over re arrangements for children. This might have to happen before both parties are ready to resolve, but does it have to be in court? There are some situations where there is an adversarial assumption. – child abduction. Are there other ways of doing these matters? Does or should a CSO at the FCoA have a role in directing people elsewhere before they file an application? 2.2 How best to deliver the information they need in a way they can absorb 2.2.1 Handling the forms ■ Service providers perceive that there is an overwhelming amount of information. People need to be able to explain what they are trying to achieve and given the appropriate forms to take away. (From the Brisbane registry people have been referred to CLCs in the first instance). ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Too many forms – difficult to work out what the claim is. Suggestion that there be one simple form, with basic information. Simplicity should be the objective of form revision. Idea of a simple information sheet on where to go for assistance to be received by the respondent when served. Given the government policy of community emphasis, who decides who should be on the form? What about non-funded services – like support groups? Note Federal Magistrates Service (FMS) simplicity but now they are asking for an affidavit to accompany it. There is a view that an affidavit may be an easier vehicle for a client to tell their story. But this can disadvantage the conciliation process. Guidance available from CLCs. Comment on sheet which lists draft pro forma orders – there may be too many, more than is needed. Needs improvement, clearer setout and more explanation. They may be used for the wrong purpose. 33
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