EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2008 No. 104

 

ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL

 

FAMILY LAW ACT 1975

 

FAMILY LAW AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2008 (No. 1)

 

Subsection 125(1) of the Family Law Act 1975 (the Act) provides, in part, that the Governor‑General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

 

The purpose of the Regulations is to make an amendment to the Family Law Regulations 1984 (the Principal Regulations) to change the jurisdictional limit imposed on Family Law Magistrates in property matters in Western Australia.

 

A Family Law Magistrate is a person who holds office as a magistrate under the Magistrates Court Act 2004 (WA) and as the Principal Registrar or Registrar of the Family Court of Western Australia concurrently.

 

The jurisdictional limit for property matters for Family Law Magistrates in Western Australia is currently $700,000. This limit is set by s 46 of the Act and regulation 12AC of the Principal Regulations.

 

The Regulations would make an amendment to the Principal Regulations to increase the current jurisdictional limit to $5,000,000 to provide the Family Court of Western Australia with greater flexibility in allocating workload between its judges and magistrates.

 

The Act specifies no conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

 

The Regulations would be a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

 

Regulations 1 through 3 and Schedule 1 would commence on the day after the Regulations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

 

Details of the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides that the name of the Regulations is the Family Law Amendment Regulations 2008 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 – Commencement

Regulation 2 provides for the commencement of Regulations 1 to 3 and Schedule 1 on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Family Law Regulations 1984

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Principal Regulations.

Schedule 1 – Amendment

 

Item [1]: Regulation 12AC

 

This item replaces the $700,000 ceiling amount in the Principal Regulations with a new ceiling amount of $5,000,000.