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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.rytz.com.au/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This is legal information, not legal advice. This page is reviewed against the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021, and current case law on AustLII — but not by a practising family-law solicitor. For advice on your matter, see Free legal help in Australia — Legal Aid, Community Legal Centres, Justice Connect, Women’s Legal Services, and Aboriginal Legal Services offer free or low-cost help.
The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) is the federal Commonwealth statute that governs family-law matters in Australia. Almost everything you’ll encounter — parenting orders, property settlement, divorce, child support, family violence orders — sits within this Act or the surrounding Federal Circuit and Family Court Rules. This page is a five-minute orientation. Just enough to understand the shape, so the rest of the platform makes sense.

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The structure

The Act is organised by Parts. The five you’ll see most:

Part VII — Children

Parental responsibility, parenting orders, parenting plans (s63C), best-interests test (s60CA, s60CC), Rice v Asplund threshold (s65DAAA), Family Dispute Resolution (s60I), family-violence orders interaction (s60CG).

Part VIII — Property + financial

Property settlement (s79), spousal maintenance, the four-step process the court uses to alter property interests, contributions assessment (Stanford / Mallet line of authority).

Part VIIIB — Superannuation

The super-splitting regime that lets the court treat super as property capable of being divided between spouses on separation.

Part VI — Divorce

Divorce applications. Mostly procedural. Twelve-month separation requirement, no-fault basis, irretrievable breakdown.

Part XIV — Enforcement

What happens when someone breaches a parenting order. Contravention proceedings, the three-tier penalty structure (probable / serious / contumacious).

Part XIIIA — General provisions

Definitions, jurisdiction, evidence rules specific to family-law matters, court powers.

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The 2024 amendments — what changed

The Family Law Amendment Act 2023 (Cth) brought significant changes that came into force on 6 May 2024. The headline changes:

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Parenting

  • Presumption of equal shared parental responsibility — repealed. Section 61DA used to start with a presumption that both parents share parental responsibility equally. That’s gone. The court now decides parental responsibility on the best-interests test alone.
  • Best-interests test restructured. Section 60CC used to have a long list of considerations divided into “primary” and “additional”. The new s60CC(2) has six general considerations, with safety as the first, plus a mandatory family-violence-history consideration in s60CC(2A) and a standalone consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s cultural connection. See Key statutes — s60CC for the precise list and statutory wording.
  • Section 65DAAA codified. The Rice v Asplund threshold (significant change in circumstances required to vary final parenting orders) is now in the statute, not just case law.

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Family violence

  • Section 60CG retained and reinforced. Every order made about a child must be consistent with any family-violence order in force, and must avoid exposing anyone to an unacceptable risk.

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Property (in force 10 June 2025)

The Family Law Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) brought substantial changes to the property-settlement framework that came into force on 10 June 2025:
  • The four-step process is now codified in s79. Pre-2025 it was case-law-derived (from Stanford, Mallet, Pierce, and the Kennon line); now it sits in the Act itself.
  • Family violence — including economic and financial abuse — is an express property consideration. The court must weigh how violence affected a party’s contributions and future needs.
  • Companion-animal provisions. The court now decides pet outcomes on caregiving history, family-violence considerations and emotional bonds. Joint-ownership orders are not available.
  • Stronger financial-disclosure obligations were lifted from the Family Law Rules into the Act, with penalties and adverse cost orders for non-compliance.
  • Asset wastage and reckless financial behaviour are now expressly assessed (codifying and extending the Kowaliw line).
  • ADR (arbitration, Less Adversarial Trials) now applies to property matters, not just parenting.
See The section 79 framework for the post-2025 four-step process in full.

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The big four sections to know

If you only remember four section numbers, make them these:

s60CA

“In deciding whether to make a particular parenting order in relation to a child, a court must regard the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration.”The single most important sentence in Australian parenting law.

s60CC

The six-factor framework the court uses to determine what’s in the child’s best interests. Every parenting decision the court makes is mapped onto these six factors.

s63C

Defines what a parenting plan is. Four bare requirements (writing, signed, dated, between parents). See Section 63C explained.

s79

The court’s power to alter property interests on separation. The basis for every property settlement in Australia.

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How statutes are cited

You’ll see citations like s60CC(2A)(b) throughout the platform and in legal documents. The convention:
  • s = section
  • The number = the section number
  • (2A) in parentheses = subsection (numbered or with a letter suffix)
  • Further (b) = paragraph within the subsection
So s60CC(2A)(b) is “section 60CC, subsection 2A, paragraph b” of whatever Act is in context. When the Act might be ambiguous, the full citation is Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s60CC(2A)(b). The (Cth) tag is critical because it indicates this is Commonwealth legislation, not state.

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What the court is — and isn’t

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (the FCFCOA) hears most family-law matters. It has two divisions:
  • Division 1 — formerly the Family Court — handles complex matters, appeals, specialised lists
  • Division 2 — formerly the Federal Circuit Court — handles the bulk of family-law work including most parenting and property matters
The court is not a criminal court. It is not adversarial in the same way a criminal trial is. It is fundamentally about determining the best interests of children and an equitable division of property. The judges are specialists in family law.

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The big five resources

If you want to read the Act itself or look up specific sections:

Federal Register of Legislation

The official text of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). Always current, always free.

AustLII

The Australasian Legal Information Institute. Free access to the Act + every reported case.

FCFCOA website

Procedural information, forms, fee schedules, practice notes.

LawCouncil — Find a lawyer

The national referral service maintained by the Law Council of Australia.

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Next

Key statutes — the deep list

The 12 sections every self-represented party should know.

Landmark cases

The case-law line for parenting and property — Stanford, Mallet, Rice v Asplund, M v M.

Glossary

Every acronym + term you’ll encounter on the platform and in proceedings.