Family Law Act 1975

In 1975, the Australian Government introduced the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in order to uphold a balance between spouses and de facto partners in regards to supporting and maintaining each parties legal rights. However, in recent years this legislation has caused growing disharmony between parental figures, with the rights of perspective fathers as well as existing ones, being neglected in the court of law. Major societal concerns have come to light in regard to a father’s legal rights under the current legislation. These concerns have arisen due to evident bias created by the legislation in respects to custody agreements for biological and non-biological parents, important decisions made over an unborn child as well as the rights and responsibilities
After six months of raising their daughter, the mother (Alice) fled taking the baby with her. Mike, the father, was contacted by Police after they located the child in a known drug house in horrific conditions. Due to these conditions, the mother was ruled ‘unsuitable’ for custody as it was in ‘the best interest of the child’. This inevitably allowed the father to gain sole custody of their daughter. However the court ruling was revoked after DNA results confirmed that he was not the biological father, removing the child into state care. The father has been restricted by all forms of communication until the child reaches the age of 18 as the child now resides with its biological family (Barraclough, 2017). Major concerns have arisen due to this case, exposing the overt inconsistency of Australian law. In the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) under Subsection 69Q Presumption of paternity arising from cohabitation the law states that
However when comparing this Federal piece of legislation to the New South Wales legislation, contradictions are exposed within the case. Under Section 11 of the Status of Children Act 1996 (NSW) “…a person is presumed to be a child’s parent if the person’s name is entered as the child’s parent in the Births, Deaths and Marriages Register or a register of births....” In New South Wales, parents have a legal responsibility to register their newborn with Births, Deaths and Marriages within 60 days of the birth (Justice Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, 2016). Under the assumption within the case of Mike v Alice, the child was registered with Mike as the legal father. Due to the apparent factors of both the case and the legislative documents, the case of Mike v Alice demonstrates how Federal and State legislation contradict one another, inevitably causing major disruption within family units. The contradiction is formed as the establishment of parentage differs between the two legislative pieces. This creates confusion, causing misinterpretations of the law inevitably affecting finalised court proceedings. As Federal legislation generally dominates the State, the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) must be amended in able to provide justice within the legal system in