Families subject to Parenting Orders are facing significant disruptions in Greater Sydney as a result of stay-at-home orders, particularly where travel restrictions limit access to public meeting points and disrupt the school term.
Do Family Court Orders still apply during the stay-at-home orders?
Family Court orders continue to be in force and remain legally binding on parents, even during a global pandemic and stay at home orders.
Leaving home to comply with Family Court Orders, such as to collect or drop off children to fulfil parenting arrangements constitutes a reasonable excuse to leave home under the Public Health Orders. The stay-at-home orders provide:
For children who do not live in the same household as their parents or siblings or one of their parents or siblings – continuing existing arrangements for access to a contact between, parents and children or siblings” (Paragraph 10 – Schedule 1 of Public Health (COVID-19 Greater Sydney) Order (No 2) 2021 [NSW].
It is clear travelling for shared parenting arrangements is permitted, however, if you are located within one of the hotspots you will be required to follow government guidelines and obtain a negative COVID test prior to travelling outside the Sydney region.
What arrangements are available in the event a parent is required to self-isolate?
Parents are required to act in the best interests of the child, by protecting them from harm and ensuring meaningful relationships between both parents. In the event one parent has been instructed to isolate pending COVID-19 test results, both parents should endeavour to develop safe alternatives for the child. This may include scheduling “make up time” once the affected parent has received negative test results and maintaining contact over FaceTime or telephone. Parents should endeavour to find alternate arrangements that are sensible and reasonable to ensure compliance with Family Court Orders.
Parents may not use restrictions or unnecessarily restrict access to their child from the other parent. However, in the event the child is exposed to COVID, a Court may find that a parent had a reasonable excuse for contravening existing parenting orders. If you have concerns about restricted access to your child, please contact us for assistance.
Is your ex-partner refusing to share care for your child resulting from COVID concerns?
If your ex-partner is refusing to share care for your child resulting from COVID concerns, and refuses to negotiate alternate arrangements sensibly and reasonably, Freedman & Gopalan can assist you in mediating a solution. In the event this is not possible, we can further assist you in making an urgent application seeking parenting orders.
If you are concerned about compliance with Family Law Orders under the current stay at home orders, please do not hesitate to contact us on 02 8917 8700.
Juggling the challenges of raising a new baby with the pressures of returning to work is a struggle many new parents face. Last week, a reputable Sydney law firm instituted policy changes that could see an end to this impossible balancing act.
Ashurst’s new policy introduces fully paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers for 26 weeks. Staff could also enjoy shorter workdays after their return, as targets for ‘billable hours’ will reduce for three months. The firm claims this new global framework will strengthen support for all parents, regardless of gender.
The use of parental leave by fathers in Australia is exceedingly low by global standards. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that only 1 in 20 fathers take primary parental leave. Three in four claim they would have liked to take more leave to care for their families.
In a welcome departure from this trend, Ashurst employees’ gender will no longer affect the length of leave they can access. Ashurst claims it has made an effort to remove gendered language “so there is no distinction between primary/secondary and maternity/paternity”.
While fathers are set to benefit from the changes, creating equality in parental leave is equally valuable for female employees as it suppresses the harmful stereotype that women are a financial liability as they approach child-bearing age.
The Sydney law firm has also introduced allowances for expectant parents who have suffered the heartbreaking loss of a miscarriage. Mothers, partners and surrogate mothers will all be eligible for the full 26 weeks of paid leave if a pregnancy is lost after 20 weeks gestation. Employees who lose a child in earlier stages of pregnancy will be able to take two weeks of paid leave, with an additional 5 days allowance for appointments.
Support groups have long been promoting the value of compensation for early pregnancy loss, claiming it is vital to the physical and psychological welfare of grieving couples. While 98% of pregnancy occurs in the first 12 weeks, employers are not legally bound to provide leave unless the gestation was at least 20 weeks. Read our blog post here. Ashurst’s revolutionary reforms could provide relief for countless employees who would otherwise have to deal with their emotional and physical traumas is silence.
Policies like these are vital for happy, healthy and, ultimately, more productive staff. This is especially true in the legal profession, where practitioners notoriously suffer from poor work-life balance, with 75% claiming they frequently or always work outside of business hours. We can only hope other businesses throughout the country will start to follow in their footsteps.
If you have further questions, or would like to enquire about your legal entitlements to paid leave, do not hesitate to contact us on 8917 8700.
If you have just separated from your partner and are wondering what the next steps are, here are a few simple tips to assist you:
Step one: Identify all assets and liabilities that are available for division. Properties, bank accounts, motor vehicles, jewellery, superannuation entitlements, shares etc., are considered assets. This includes assets held either in your sole name, or jointly with your partner or any third party. Do not forget to include assets that you or your partner may have overseas. Liabilities are any debts that you or your partner may have, whether personal or with a bank or an entity.
Step two: The next step is to consider the following contributions made by both you and your partner, at the commencement of the relationship, during the relationship and after separation.
a) Financial Contributions;
b) Non-Financial Contributions; and
c) Contributions as a parent/homemaker.
Financial Contributions are any monetary contributions made by you or your partner. It could be the income you earned during the relationship, any assets owned at the commencement of your relationship, any inheritances or gifts acquired, any property acquired solely from one’s savings/income earned.
Non-financial Contributions are contributions by you or your partner that might have assisted in increasing the value of any asset. It could be any renovation or landscaping done on a property or even any unpaid work done at a family business.
Contributions as parent/homemaker could be the grocery shopping, care for children/elderly, all household chores or any other general parenting responsibilities.
Step three: The next step is to consider what the future needs of both parties are. Some of the factors the Family Court in Australia will consider are age, state of health, current income, future earning capacity, current & future parenting responsibilities.
Step four: Depending on the circumstances, the Court might consider whether it ‘just and equitable’ to consider an adjustment in favour of an individual, prior to even considering the individual contributions.
However, be aware that there is no strict formula for property division, and it differs from case to case. Accordingly, we advise that you obtain legal advice prior to entering into an agreement with your partner.
If you are struggling and wish for some assistance in settling your property division and severing your financial relationship with your partner, please do not hesitate to contact us on 02 8917 8700.
What is coercive control?
The term ‘coercive control’ refers to domestic abuse in which repeated, abusive patterns erode a victim-survivor’s sense of autonomy, independence, and self-esteem. These behaviours may be physical, but extend to psychological abuse, including tracking and tracing, humiliation, stalking, and limiting access to finance and family.
Is coercive control a crime?
The Domestic Violence Death Review Team reported that 99% of domestic violence homicides were preceded by incidences of coercive control. Despite this clear risk factor, coercive control has historically not been illegal in NSW.
In NSW, Apprehended Violence Orders are available for victims of abuse. However, this legislation does not capture coercive and controlling behaviour, leaving countless victim-survivors to fall through the cracks.
Steps to criminalise coercive control
After receiving more than 150 submissions and following five days of hearings, a joint select committee on coercive control tabled its report to NSW Parliament on 30 June 2021. In a huge step forward for victim-survivors, the committee unanimously agreed to criminalise coercive control.
The committee made 23 recommendations to the NSW government in its report to remedy the legal and non-legal deficits in responding to coercive and controlling behaviour. Notably, the report contained a recommendation the NSW government recognises coercive control as a “red-flag” for domestic homicides and criminalise coercive control.
Further legislative reform was recommended, including amendments to the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 to create a clear and accessible definition of domestic abuse which captures coercive behaviour prior to criminalising coercive control.
The NSW Government will now consider the committee’s recommendations. With the Australian Department of Criminology revealing that two-thirds of surveyed women have experienced increased abuse during the pandemic, it is hoped that these recommendations will provide the reform needed to protect victim-survivors.
If you would like to learn more about this issue, or would like to discuss a legal matter, please do not hesitate to call us on 8917 8700.
The Delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly transmissible, and new, increasingly strict Health Orders have been issued by the NSW Government over the past month. While most Australians are locking down, some individuals have disregarded the new policies, putting the community at risk.
On 17 July, three Sydney removalists were charged for travelling through Sydney and into the Liverpool Local Government Area (LGA) after finding out they had COVID-19. NSW Deputy Police Commissioner, Gary Worboys, expressed deep concern about the behaviour and made it clear to the public that actions such as these will not go unpunished. The men may be charged with an $11,000 fine and six months imprisonment.
As police presence is set to “ramp up” in Greater Sydney, this breach is unlikely to be the last. As the Government closes construction sites throughout Sydney, thousands are vulnerable to economic hardship. Individuals need to keep the safety and wellbeing of the wider community in mind when choosing to go outside.
While COVID-19 restrictions continue, please remember that we are available 24/7.
If you would like to learn more about this issue, or would like to discuss a legal matter, please do not hesitate to call us on 8917 8700.
The NSW government has confirmed that Certificates of Title in paper form will be abolished as of 11 October 2021. This move is in line with the government’s goal to transition to 100% eConveyancing, which is considered a more efficient and ecofriendly way of dealing with property transactions.
After 11 October 2021, Certificates of Title will no longer have to be produced to enable the registration of a dealing. Accordingly, if you have left your paper Certificate of Title in your solicitors’ care, it is recommended you liaise with them in order to ascertain whether it should be returned, stored or otherwise destroyed.
If you are the owner of unencumbered land and currently possess the Certificate of Title in relation to your property, you are not obligated to take any action to return the same to the NSW Land Registry Services.
If you wish to buy or sell property, your conveyancer will have to ensure that these new eConveyancing processes and procedures are followed. Legal practitioners and conveyancers should review their conveyancing processes to minimise the impact of these changes.
If you or your solicitors retain your Certificate of Title and you would like to discuss any issues or questions, please do not hesitate to contact our offices on 8917 8700.
Although the fear of another COVID outbreak is being felt throughout Australia, our case numbers continue to pale in comparison to those in India, which has suffered the loss of nearly 400,000 to date. It is only now that many of us truly understand the seriousness of the COVID Delta strain. Our hearts go out to all affected by this terrifying and isolating virus, whether that be in Australia or overseas.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) recently published a research report surveying almost 60% of ASX 200 companies about their policies on addressing workplace sexual harassment. The report revealed that while companies are taking steps to address this serious issue, there is much room for improvement.
Only 60% of companies surveyed require company managers to be trained on good governance and responding to instances of sexual harassment. Furthermore, less than 20% of respondents require company directors to undertake this same training. This shows a critical gap in workplace supervisors’ awareness and ability to create safe and inclusive cultures at work. In turn, this means that many companies have reactive policies to respond to sexual harassment after the fact, rather than implementing proactive measures to prevent it in the first place.
A further issue is that only two-thirds of companies surveyed have a procedure in place for identifying risk factors relating to sexual harassment, and less than one-third publicly report information regarding sexual harassment. This creates a lack of transparency around the standards of behaviour that are acceptable at work and what is actually occurring in practice in these companies.
The AHRC’s report also includes eight recommendations for companies to improve their policies targeting workplace sexual harassment. These include measures such as setting gender diversity targets, providing employees with greater incentives to undertake further training to address sexual harassment and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.
If you have any concerns about how you have been treated at work or would like to learn more about your rights, please do not hesitate to call us on 8917 8700.
Just as it seemed life was getting back to normal, Sydneysiders have been thrust into another lockdown. As residents prepare to stockpile their toilet paper and renew their Netflix subscriptions, fears surrounding the implications of another outbreak are being felt throughout the nation. The Delta variant of COVID-19 is officially in the community. Labelled a “strain of concern” by the WHO, the B.1.67 variant has proven more contagious and deadly than its predecessors, killing at least 400,000 Indians this year.
Here’s how to make sure you’re following the rules and staying safe this lockdown.
The rules
Sydney’s two-week lockdown is scheduled to end on Friday 9 July 2021 and expands across the Greater Sydney region (including Wollongong, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains). A fourteen-day stay at home order is also in place for all residents who left greater Sydney on or after 12 June 2021.
A Public Health Order issued by the Minister for Health directs residents in the region to wear masks in all indoor non-residential settings and on public transport and to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. There are, however, four main reasons you may be allowed to leave your home.
- Shopping for food and other essential goods and services
- Emergencies, medical care and compassionate reasons. This includes getting a COVID vaccine and visiting a romantic partner that you don’t live with
- Exercise outdoors, in groups of 10 or fewer
- Essential work or education, if it cannot be done from home. However, employers must allow employees to work at the employee’s place of residence if it is reasonably practicable to do so.
If you are dealing with a family law matter, the following exemptions may also apply to you. You may leave your home to:
- Undertake legal obligations
- Give effect to new parenting arrangements
- Pick up and drop off children at childcare.
If you feel you are at risk of domestic violence, leaving home to escape harm is also included in the list of exemptions.
For more about the rules and how they affect those in regional areas, click here.
Fines
Failure to follow the above rules will lead to an infringement notice and a possible fine of $1000. Only three days into the lockdown, 44 people had been fined for breaching Health Orders. Among those fined was Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, who was slapped with an infringement notice for failing to wear a mask in a petrol station.
While it seems no one will be safe from strict enforcement of the rules, Police Commissioner Michael Fuller APM noted that the police would be understanding of residents’ confusion about the application of the rules.
Vaccine rollout
In light of the 294 estimated active cases throughout the country, the Government has doubled down efforts to vaccinate Australians.
The Prime Minister announced this morning that all adults under 40 will now be able to access the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, with widespread fears surrounding the extremely narrow possibility of blood clot complications, many Australians remain hesitant.
The NSW Government has reinforced the importance of vaccination to stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta strain and prevent a constant cycle of lockdowns this winter. The efficacy of vaccination was especially evident yesterday when everyone at a Sydney birthday party became infected with COVID-19, except for the six people who were vaccinated.
For official advice about vaccinations, consult your doctor and visit health.gov.au
If you would like to learn more about this issue, or would like to discuss a legal matter, please do not hesitate to call us on 8917 8700