Let's Talk Law: Family Court an essential service still available during lockdown

The Family Court has been duly designated as an "essential service" and court lawyers as "essential workers".

As the level 4 Covid-19 pandemic restrictions loomed large in late March, there was uncertainty in most, if not all, corners of the community.

The Family Court was no exception.

The Family Court is regularly called in to bat, often at short notice, to ensure some of the more vulnerable in our community are safe.

Parenting orders and protection orders made on an urgent basis, often in the wake of situations of family violence, are an all too regular occurrence.

There was a very real fear that the lockdown would create additional domestic stress and lead to a spike in family violence.

Scott Oliver from Treadwell Gordon

There was also uncertainty around the impact these restrictions would have on shared care arrangements.

Under the Government restrictions, the Family Court has been duly designated as an "essential service" and court lawyers as "essential workers", to ensure the community still has access.

The Family Court also ensures that urgent applications can still proceed in a way that complies with the level 4 and level 3 restrictions, keeping everyone safe.

A notable example of this is that affidavits, or statements, filed in support of these applications have been accepted unsworn, doing away with the need to have signatures witnessed.

An immediate issue for those involved in care arrangements for children has been how the restrictions and the implementation of "bubbles" was going to affect those arrangements.

The Family Court issued some useful guidelines early on that permitted children to move between two households, provided those "bubbles" were reasonably restricted and no one was ill.

This appears to have worked work well in most instances. In some cases, the court has been prepared to issue urgent parenting orders to ensure arrangements continued safely and in accordance with the restrictions.

Anecdotally, it appears that police callouts relating to family violence have increased. By and large however, the number of urgent applications to the Family Court, particularly for protection orders and parenting orders, have significantly reduced.

One explanation may be that people are calling for police assistance the minute things appear to be getting out of hand. Another may be that perhaps the community is taking the current, extraordinary circumstances seriously, and that the state of emergency has allowed pause for personal reflection.

Another possibility, and it is a concerning one, is that those that need help have assumed that it is not available.

There has been a concerted effort to get the message out that family violence is still not okay, and that those services in the community that assist, are still available.

This includes the Family Court. This also includes the lawyers who can assist people who need urgent legal help.

Legal aid has remained operating to ensure that everyone can continue to have access to legal services. The Family Court is ensuring that ways are found to keep providing a service, no matter what the restrictions are.

At this stage it is too early to know why things have occurred the way that they have. The community does, however, need to know that these services are still very much available to those that need help. Those in need shouldn't hesitate to get the support they need, whether that be from a relevant community organisation or a Family Court lawyer.

Treadwell Gordon