Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023

The submission on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 follows the Australian Psychological Society's previous submission to the Attorney-General’s Department on the exposure draft of the Bill.  After the Bill was introduced to Parliament and was passed by the House of Representatives, it was referred by Senate to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

The APS maintains its support for the policy intentions underlying this first set of proposed changes to the family law system in Australia.  The APS welcomes efforts to promote the interests and wellbeing of children, and to strengthen the foundations for an efficient, culturally-informed and trauma-sensitive family law system.

This APS submission to the Senate Committee draws attention to two key issues which remain unresolved:

• The APS restates its concerns about the proposed regulatory framework for family report writers. While the APS supports the intention to promote quality, consistency and standards across family report writers, the APS is not convinced that the approach in the Bill is the most appropriate way to achieve these objectives. Having more regulatory requirements on psychologists is unlikely, by itself, to lead to greater quality. The APS calls for greater engagement with relevant professions, including psychologists, in the collaborative design of an appropriate and workable regulatory system.
   
• The APS is disappointed that proposed provisions which would have protected against the admission of sensitive health and therapeutic information (including psychology session notes and records) were dropped from the Bill as introduced to Parliament. No reason was given for this omission. The APS calls for the reintroduction of clear and unambiguous provisions in the Bill which assure clients and psychologists that what is shared in a confidential health setting remains confidential, unless there is a compelling reason for its disclosure.

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