The Family Court has taken a range of initiatives in response to the increasing number of self-represented litigants entering their court. They produced Litigants in Persons Guidelines. These guidelines are as follows:
This report examines the effectiveness of the Central Coast Community Legal Centre (CCCLC)’s AVO Legal Advice Clinic at Wyong Local Court in improving unrepresented defendants’ knowledge in AVO matters (p 3). It found 78% of surveyed defendants said they would not have obtained legal advice if the CCCLC service had not been available at the court. 81% of defendants obtained advice prior to the first mention of their AVO matter in Court. (p 13).
The research underlines the importance of legal advice and indicates that ‘there has been a clear increase in defendants’ self-reported knowledge after obtaining legal advice from the CCCLC’ (p 26). Defendant knowledge of legal options improved dramatically after obtaining legal advice relating to the AVO application against them. ‘Common enquiries that defendants have relate to where they physically stand in court, how they address the Magistrate when they speak as well as what they are expected to say in court’. The report reports that procedural advice provided a calming or reassuring impact on defendants before court (p 17).This report draws and extends upon a 2013 report released by the Centre for Rural Regional Law and Justice (Victoria) (Jordan, Lucinda and Lydia Phillips, Women’s experiences of surviving family violence and accessing the Magistrates’ Court in Geelong, Victoria (Centre for Rural Regional Law and Justice, Deakin University Australia, 2013)). George and Harris’ report ‘examines the experiences of and outcomes for women survivors of family violence in regional and rural Victoria’ (p 2). Of relevance, the report looks at the role of lawyers in the Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO) process. It found:
This evaluation of the impact of the 2006 changes to the Family law Act involved the collection of data from some 28,000 people involved or potentially involved in the family law system - including parents, grandparents, family relationship service staff, clients of family relationship services, lawyers, court professionals and judicial officers - and the analysis of administrative data and court files. Of relevance here see:
This article argues that allegations of family violence are 'the new normal' in family court matters in Australia and calls for the family law system to prioritise victim safety. It presents findings from a study with independent children's lawyers from Victoria and New South Wales, highlighting their views on issues of family violence, self-representation, safety, and physical court premises, which are in contrast to the recommendations of the recent Australian Law Reform Commission into the family law system, which failed to address the safety of court users. There needs to be a shift in thinking from providing 'special' arrangements to victim safety being the standard approach.
Based on interviews with legal practitioners and others and surveys with legal practitioners this research found:
Submissions to taskforce raised the lack of legal representation and assistance as a major concern for victims, particularly where a male respondent can afford legal representation. Submissions stated that this often results in the victim withdrawing or not pursuing a legal response and can lead to a failure in protection for an aggrieved. Submissions also noted the benefits from a duty lawyer system:
Abstract: This research focuses on documenting current practice and generating new knowledge about the impact and effect of self-representation by one or both parties in Family Law proceedings involving allegations of family violence.
The research team conducted semi-structured interviews with SRLs and professionals who engage with SRLs in family law proceedings to produce a general interview sample. The researchers then also undertook an intensive case study that involved court observation, case file review, and interviews with SRLs or other representatives involved in those observed/reviewed cases.
The research confirmed that there are high numbers of SRLs engaged in family law cases involving allegations of family violence, and the primary motivation for self-representing is financial. The study revealed that SRLs are impacted by their self-representation, as well as histories of family violence, in numerous ways. Primarily, SRLs lack knowledge of the legal process: for example, they are often unaware of the heavy emphasis on paperwork and negotiation in family law cases, and they are unprepared to complete paperwork, or negotiate, in ways that effectively support their case. Intersecting with the lack of knowledge is the impact of family violence: ability to complete paperwork and negotiate is also affected by experiences of violence and resulting trauma, and perceptions of safety.
Given these findings, the report stresses the importance of enhanced, up-to-date and practical information for SRLs in multiple formats, as well as increased access to lawyers and legal advice. The report also raises the need to explore possible system change, particularly with a view to the fragmentation of areas of law that respond to family violence. Alongside enhancing family violence expertise across key court personnel, the report recommends integrating information about safety into routinely accessed documents in order to raise awareness about available services.Section 5 of this report presents quantitative and qualitative data on women and legal professionals’ experience of legal proceedings. In relation to legal representation, this report found that there were instances where women had to represent themselves (and thus have to cross-examine men who had been violent to them) or face the prospect of being cross-examined by their ex-partners. Women were afraid of these two scenarios (p 38). Solicitors and barristers surveyed identified two issues relating to potential abuse and intimidation that self-representation raises. First, ‘perpetrators representing themselves used cross-examination as another route to harass and undermine their ex-partners’. Second, fearful victim-survivors representing themselves may not disclose the full details of their abuse and may inhibit themselves from questioning perpetrators about their actions and motivations (p 39). The report identifies multiple ways in which the outcome of the case can be influenced where women and/or their abusive ex-partners represent themselves: