On 15 May 2019, Nadine Udorovic, Partner at Nicholes Family Lawyers, and Natasha Mastroianni, Associate at Nicholes Family Lawyers, joined the Women’s Information and Referral Exchange (‘WIRE’) in a panel to deliver information on navigating the family law system. The panel also included Danie...
Read moreFamily Law system and the courts
The 2019-20 Federal Budget and Family Legal Matters
The Federal Government has announced that it will increase legal assistance funding by under $20 million in the 2019-20 budget. This meets only 6% of the Law Council of Australia’s recommended additional $310 million per year to provide Australians at risk with adequate legal assistance. The Law C...
Read moreAccess to Justice and the Online World
On Thursday 21 March 2019 Nicholes Family Lawyers, in conjunction with Victoria Women Lawyers hosted a seminar discussing the impact of online world on ‘justice’. The seminar explored the various ways in which the emergence of technology and the online world has impacted on individuals’ abilit...
Read moreDaughter’s disclosure of wife’s documents a breach of legal professional privilege
Legal professional privilege is a fundamental right of a client that protects the disclosure of certain communication between a client and their lawyer when the communication is for the dominant purpose of seeking or providing legal advice or for use in legal proceedings. The purpose of legal profes...
Read moreProcedural Fairness in the Family Court
According to the Australian Law Reform Commission procedural fairness means acting fairly in administrative decision making. It relates to the fairness of the procedure under which a decision is made, and not the fairness in a substantive sense of that decision. The High Court has confirmed on numer...
Read moreWhy same sex couples can be denied Wedding Cakes in Colorado but not in Australia
The case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. (2018) demonstrates that in certain circumstances, a person in Colorado can refuse to provide goods and services to same sex couples on the basis that their religious beliefs oppose same sex marriage. Facts A same-...
Read moreThe Rise in Domestic Violence – What is being done?
This year the government’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) compiled data on the prevalence of domestic violence. It was found that on average one woman every week is killed by a current or former partner. In addition to this the report found that family violence had rapidly g...
Read moreNo parentage for sperm donors: Parsons and Anor & Masson [2018] FamCAFC 115
In the recent case of Parsons and Anor & Masson [2018] FamCAFC 115, the Full Court of the Family Court held that sperm donors are not legal parents of children born via artificial technology using their sperm, regardless of the mother’s relationship status at the time of conception. The judgme...
Read moreProtection for Domestic Violence Survivors in Family Law
In an effort to restrict self-represented litigants from cross examining their victims of domestic violence, the Federal Government is set to introduce new legislation to abolish the existing practice. The Government is concerned that the current regime which permits cross examination of a victim of...
Read moreRe Matthew – Stage 3 Treatment for Gender Dysphoria deemed therapeutic
Following the case of Re Kelvin children with gender dysphoria wishing to commence Stage 2 hormonal treatment no longer require Court authorisation to commence treatment. However, the case of Re Kelvin was largely silent on whether Court approval was still required for Stage 3 treatment for those ...
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"Are we at the United Nations ready to take our own advice?” On #ParentsDay, our Goodwill Ambassador Anne Hathaway calls on t…
During COVI19 this new inquiry into domestic violence will make a significant impact @dvvic @OurWatchAus twitter.com/sally_nicholes…
In Goldsmith & Stinson and Ors, the Full Court affirmed that when considering a s79 Application, regard should be h… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…