As demand for not-for-profit legal services increase, the family court system needs “urgent reforms”, argues this Women’s Legal Service lawyer. The Women’s Legal Service Victoria has increas
Judge resigns over âsexualisedâ conduct
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The Law Council of Australia said on Thursday the case for a federal judicial commission was clear after a Federal Circuit Court judge stepped down quietly over findings of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Judge Joe Harman, who was appointed in 2010 and had been based in the courtâs Parramatta registry, was accused of âsexualisedâ misconduct towards two women from 2015 onwards, which included lewd emails and âunwelcome hugsâ.
âCaused harmâ: Federal Circuit Court judge Joe Harman has resigned.Â
Family Relationship Services Australia
He resigned last week, heading off a likely parliamentary inquiry that could have led to him being the first federal judge dismissed from office.
On 5 July 2018, Olga came home from work to find John had killed their teenage children.
This week, state coroner Teresa OâSullivan found that a series of critical âerrors and omissionsâ made by police, firearms registry staff and a family court lawyer in New South Wales allowed Edwards, a man with a decades-long history of domestic violence, to murder his children.
OâSullivan again raised questions about how the family law system operates, only months before it is set to undergo its most significant transformation since the family court was established in 1975.
But the Morrison governmentâs plan to establish a single point of entry to the court system â which currently shuffles cases between the federal circuit court and family court based on their complexity, often causing delays and subsequent increases in costs â will not address the family law systemâs many serious deficiencies, according to multiple people spoken to by Guardian Austral