Australian Institute of Family Studies

Background

In the decade leading up to the commissioning of this project, there had been been growing concern about the extent to which cross examination of witnesses occured in family law cases where family violence had been alleged. This could involve victims of family violence being cross-examined by the alleged perpetrator of family violence and also alleged victims being required to cross-examine alleged perpetrators.  

On 17 July 2017, the Australian Government, Attorney-General’s Department released an Exposure Draft of the Family Law Amendment (Family Violence and Cross-examination of Parties) Bill 2017. This Bill contains proposed amendments to the Family Law Act to address concerns regarding direct cross-examination of parties in family law court proceedings involving family violence.    

About the project

AIFS was commissioned to undertake research to: 

• identify the extent to which direct cross-examination involving self-represented litigants is taking place in family law proceedings and  
•  examine the factual and legal context in which this direct cross-examination is occurring.   

This project consisted of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of data collected from court files and from audio and/or transcripts of proceedings in family law matters.