Family Court in Melbourne

The Family Courts of Australia help resolve various family disputes of Australian citizens. There are 7 Family Courts in Australia:

Australian capital territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria

Family Court of Melbourne comes under the state of Victoria.

The family court is regarded as the highest court in Australia to address family disputes as recorded in Parliament in 1975. The court deals in:

Parenting Disputes: Such as child support, child abuse, family violence, complex mental health issues, parenting disputes, international relocations, child removal within or outside Australia, special medical procedures etc.

Financial Disputes: Such as two or more familial parties involved in stake holding of businesses, trusts, estate properties, superannuation splitting etc.

The Family Court has a Chief Justice, Deputy Justice and other judges and administrative staff. The focus of the family court of Melbourne is to provide just and equitable solutions to the separating families and ensure child safety and welfare.

The Family Court encourages the warring parties to seek dispute resolution services before filing the litigation. The dispute resolution services are funded by Australian Federal Government. Seeking Dispute resolution service is more advantageous as it is cost and time effective mode of dispute resolution.

In case, if someone cannot afford a family lawyer, Family Relationship Advice Line and Legal Aid Organizations can be sought to help you with free legal advice and information on family laws.

If you are representing yourself in the Family Court, the Duty Lawyers will assist you by referring family lawyers and family dispute resolution services, provide information on family laws, help you with applying for – legal aid, emergency applications, preparing documents and assisting in the court room.




Available time of Duty Lawyers: from Monday to Friday: 9am -1pm on Level 2.

Address of Family Court in Melbourne and its working time:

Owen Dixon Commonwealth Law Courts Building (cnr Latrobe Street), 305 William Street, Melbourne. The Family Court is above the Flagstaff Railway Station.

Timings: 8.45 am – 4.30 pm

Visit www.familylawyersinmelbourne.com for detailed overview of family law matters.

How to tackle domestic violence and seek intervention in Australia?

When any family member whether a spouse, child, parent, sibling or any other familial relative is intimidated, fearful, emotionally deprived or harmed in anyway by another family member by threatening, abusing or behaving coercively it is clearly a case of domestic violence.

Domestic Violence can be in the form of:     

•           Emotional violence
•        Sexual abuse / violence
•        Physical violence
•        Economic violence

Domestic violence or family violence as it is referred as, is a serious crime and unfortunately 1 in 3 Australian women has experienced physical violence, since the age of 15 and 1 in 5 Australian women has experienced sexual violence by their partner or ex-partner, says www.ourwatch.org in their study.

Some of the instance of domestic violence are:

•       Stalking
•        Sexual or physical assault
•        Making derogatory comments
•        Causing damage to the property intentionally
•        Causing injury or death of a pet animal willfully
•        Irrationally denying financial authority he/she would have had
•        Intentionally not meeting financial needs of the dependents in the family
•        Threatening to harm / kill oneself
•        Not allowing a family member to stay in touch with his/her family, friends, colleagues, religion etc

Family violence and child abuse have prominent address in Family Law Act. Intervention orders can be sought from the court for immediate effect and you can file a case in court of domestic or family violence.

Child abuse instances are:       

•           Emotional and/ or sexual exploitation
•            Serious neglect of the child
• ]         Subjected to psychological harm by witnessing family violence

Intervention Orders:

Family Violence orders are referred in different names in different states. In Victoria state, it is referred as Intervention Orders.

IF you are a victim of domestic violence, seek police protection immediately and get a Safety Notice to safeguard you and your property. A Safety Notice ensures your protection for a short period until you get an Intervention Order from the Family Court.

You can also seek assistance from Domestic Violence Research Centre Victoria (DVRCV).

Once the intervention order is issued, the accused family member is restricted to meet or contact the applicant in any way.

Visit www.familylawyersinmelbourne.comto know more about issues that come under family law and how to handle them.