> ## 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. # Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) — explained in five minutes > The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) explained without jargon. The structure of Australian family law, the 6 May 2024 parenting amendments, the 10 June 2025 property amendments, and the four sections every self-rep should know. import { Card, CardGroup } from '@mintlify/components' **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](/learn/free-legal-help) — 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. ## The structure The Act is organised by Parts. The five you'll see most: 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). Property settlement (s79), spousal maintenance, the four-step process the court uses to alter property interests, contributions assessment (Stanford / Mallet line of authority). The super-splitting regime that lets the court treat super as property capable of being divided between spouses on separation. Divorce applications. Mostly procedural. Twelve-month separation requirement, no-fault basis, irretrievable breakdown. What happens when someone breaches a parenting order. Contravention proceedings, the three-tier penalty structure (probable / serious / contumacious). Definitions, jurisdiction, evidence rules specific to family-law matters, court powers. ## 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: ### 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](/family-law/key-statutes#s60cc-how-the-court-determines-best-interests-post-2024) 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. ### 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. ### 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](/settlement-planner/section-79-framework) for the post-2025 four-step process in full. ## The big four sections to know If you only remember four section numbers, make them these: *"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. 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. Defines what a parenting plan is. Four bare requirements (writing, signed, dated, between parents). See [Section 63C explained](/parenting-planner/section-63c-explained). The court's power to alter property interests on separation. The basis for every property settlement in Australia. ## 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. ## 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. ## The big five resources If you want to read the Act itself or look up specific sections: The official text of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). Always current, always free. The Australasian Legal Information Institute. Free access to the Act + every reported case. Procedural information, forms, fee schedules, practice notes. The national referral service maintained by the Law Council of Australia. ## Next The 12 sections every self-represented party should know. The case-law line for parenting and property — Stanford, Mallet, Rice v Asplund, M v M. Every acronym + term you'll encounter on the platform and in proceedings.