Class: Legal Studies
Teacher: Ms. Waylen Due Date: 14/10/2008
Assignment: Writing an essay Name: Laurie Cha
Does family law satisfy the functions of law requirements?

1) Social Cohesion
i) Rights and value Family law satisfies the functions of law requirements as it protects and preserves societal values and human rights. For instance, the Commonwealth Parliament has passed the Marriage Act 1961 to give people fundamental right to marry as well as to establish a valid marriage. The Family Law Act 1975 has been passed as people are expected to receive the rights when they are involved in a legal dispute relating to divorce. Recently, as the rights of children are considered paramount, the laws regarding the safety and welfare of children have been adopted by the Family Law (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act (2006). The South Australian Parliament has passed the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Partners) Act (2006) in order to provide de facto couples legal rights similar to those enjoyed by a married spouse. ii) Set acceptable standards of behaviour and consequence To preserve and protect values and human rights, the Marriage Act 1961 provides the requirements for a valid marriage to exist, for example, marriage should not be done by fraud, between a person related by blood with other close family members and more than one person. The consequence of failing to meet with these criteria is an annulment of marriage, meaning a valid marriage never existed in the first place. iii) Three arms of government The Commonwealth parliament amended the Family Law Act 1975 in relation to Child support, the regular payment of money from a non-residence parent to the residence parent for the financial support of the children of the relationship. Hence, in order to enforce Child Support Scheme (CSS), Executive arm has created the Child Support Agency (CSA), which has links with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This has been done by Executive as the effectiveness of the CSS relied on a well established information system. Furthermore, when the judges resolve disputes, they consider the best interest of child as paramount when deciding divorce in order to ensure that adequate arrangements for children are made and their rights are secured by their parents, this is pursuant to the legislation that is created by the other arm of government.

iv) Laws are adapt to changing circumstances and needs As society changes, laws continually adapt to changes in family values. For example, the Child Support Scheme was usually determined by the Family Court. However, this was unrealistically low and did not take into account the future needs for raising children. Hence, now more emphasis is placed on the parents reaching agreements between themselves and deciding how payments will be made. Also, the CSA uses an administrative formula, prescribed in legislation, to assess the child support liability of the non-residence parent. Additionally, granting a divorce was difficult under Matrimonial Causes Act 1959. Divorce was only given to spouses where a matrimonial fault was proved by one spouse against the other spouse in a State Supreme Court. However, after the Family Law Act 1975 was passed, no fault divorce, which it is uncontested divorce, has been established as many people demand a divorce to be easily obtainable and do not want the state to make moral judgements about private affairs. As people started to respect the rights of same-sex couples, the South Australian Parliament changed the definition of a de facto in order to include different-sex couples as well as same-sex couples.

2) Social Progress Society must be mindful of its obligations to the future generation of Australians. Hence, the family laws are adequately balancing the needs of the current generation with those of future generation. The Family Law Act accepted the power over ex-nuptial children referred by South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. Hence, the Family Court could decide cases in a consistent and uniform manner so that children including ex-nuptial children are treated equally. The Commonwealth parliament passed the Family Law (Shared parental responsibility) Act 2006 in order to help children to become well adjusted adults. Hence, the law has introduced the significance of spending time with parents by allowing both parents to spend significant or substantial time with their children. Also, parents have an equal duty to make decisions about important issues that affect their children, such as schooling and health care. Consequently, by enforcing this law, it is expected that children will be cared for by both parents and be able to grow up in a pleasant environment even if families go through divorce and assists children to be encouraged to step forward confidently and lawfully into the future.