Western Australian Numbered Acts Western Australian Numbered Acts (1) The amendments in
this section are to the Family Court Act 1997 .
(2) Section 5(1)
is amended as follows:
(a) in
the definition of “independent children’s lawyer” by
deleting “a certificated practitioner (within the meaning of the
Legal Practice Act 2003 )” and inserting instead —
“ an Australian legal practitioner ”;
(b) by
inserting in the appropriate alphabetical position —
“
“Australian legal practitioner” has the
meaning given in the Legal Profession Act 2008 section 3;
”.
(3) Section 11(3)
is repealed and the following subsections are inserted instead —
“
(3) A person is not eligible for appointment as a Family
Court judge unless the person —
(a) is
an Australian lawyer and has had not less than 8 years’ legal
experience; and
(b) by
reason of training, experience, and personality, is a suitable person to deal
with matters of family law.
(3a) In
subsection (3)(a) —
“Australian lawyer” has the meaning
given in the Legal Profession Act 2008 section 3;
“legal experience” means —
(a)
standing and practice as an Australian legal practitioner; or
(b)
judicial service (including service as a judge of a court, a magistrate or
other judicial officer) in the State or elsewhere in a common law
jurisdiction; or
(c) a
combination of both kinds of legal experience mentioned in paragraphs (a)
and (b).
”.