What is a Family Report?

The court may direct a family consultant to submit a family report on subjects the court deems relevant under Section 62G(2) of the Family Law Act (1975).

But what exactly does this imply?

A Family Report is a document written by a court-appointed psychologist or social worker (typically one of these two professions) for the purpose of advising the court on the best course of action for children involved in a case.

Why should you utilise a Family Report?

Experts are consulted by judges. They rely on forensic scientific evidence, eyewitness reports, and other evidence in criminal cases.

There is frequently no concrete evidence in family matters. School records, psychologist reports, and domestic and family violence orders are examples of supporting documentation, although they are not proof by themselves. But, more often than not, one parent’s account of events is pitted against another’s. A family report is intended to provide an expert opinion on the pertinent facts and data.

What does the family report do?

The following are the requirements of Section 62G(3A), (3B), (4), and (5) of the Family Law Act (1975):

• If the child is mature enough to express their opinion and there are no other specific circumstances that prevent them from doing so, they will be considered.
• Child protection, well-being, and development;
• Any other matter that the court finds relevant to the child’s care, welfare, and development.

Due to the intricacy of these reports, we have explained some of the reports you may encounter and the purpose that each of these reports serves below.

Child Impact Assessment

A Court Child Expert hired by the Court Children’s Service can only create a Child Impact Report, which is a preliminary report.

This report focuses on the child’s or children’s needs, as well as their perspectives and family experiences. The goal of this report is to help the Court determine whether the child faces any risks from spending time or living with the parties, the nature of the child’s relationship with each parent or the parties involved in the dispute (if necessary), and any developmental requirements the child may have.

While the specific method of a Child Impact Report varies based on the needs and circumstances of each child and family, it is commonly done in two stages:

• the Court Appointed Child Expert meets with each party (typically both parents); 
• the Court Appointed Child Expert then meets with the child or children, unless it is ruled that doing so is inappropriate. 

This decision is frequently made in situations where the child or children are very young, or if they have a health condition that may limit their capacity to participate in the process.

The Child Court Expert may choose to witness how the child/ren interacts with each of the parties if the meeting takes place in person.

This type of report is only likely to be requested if there are parenting difficulties that need to be resolved before an interim hearing (usually being the intermediate point of a Family Court matter, where orders are made on a temporary basis or until final orders are made by the Court). Otherwise, the Court may require the parties to hire a privately paid organisation to do a Child Impact Assessment (which is conducted in a similar way to the internal Court process outlined above).

Depending on the nature of the parenting dispute and the lingering issues that a Court is required to resolve, four additional reports may be requested if the matter proceeds to a final hearing (meaning the parties are still unable to reach an agreement).

The Executive Summary

A court may order one or more parties to parenting proceedings to attend a family consultant appointment or series of consultations, as well as to arrange for a child to attend such an appointment. Following the appointment, the family consultant will submit a report to the Court, which will be in a condensed form and will usually give the Court an overview of the parties’ difficulties.

These reports (commonly referred to as ‘S11F reports’) are used at interim hearings (as opposed to S 62G reports) and can form the basis of a final resolution of a parenting matter by consent, where the parties agree to the report writer’s recommendation or the Court incorporates it in a Final Order.

The Specific Report

The Court may order a family consultant to provide the Court with a report on any relevant aspects to the proceedings that the Court deems appropriate. The court may postpone the hearing until the report is delivered. The Court may issue orders requiring the parties to attend appointments and arrange for their children to attend such appointments.

Unless it would be inappropriate due to the child’s age, maturity, or some other particular condition, the family consultant must gather the views of the child/ren on the matter and incorporate them in the report. The Family report may include any information about the child’s care, development, and welfare.

Family Report

A Family Report is used to give an objective evaluation of a family law dispute to a court. It provides an objective, expert assessment of the issues surrounding the parental disagreement, assisting the court in reaching a conclusion regarding the child’s best interests in settling the case. We’ll cover everything you need to know about Family Reports right here.

What is the purpose of family reports?

Family Reports are created to help parents agree about what is in their child’s best interests, or to help the Court determine what is in a child’s best interests if the matter is in litigation.

In parenting conflicts, the writer’s responsibility is to provide observations and recommendations for future care and living arrangements that are in the best interests of the children.

The Court can appoint a family report writer or the parties in a parenting dispute can jointly nominate one.

Family reports are frequently created in the hope of assisting parties in reaching a settlement in a family law matter. They can offer opinions and assist judges in making decisions concerning child custody arrangements by providing an objective assessment of the problems in the matter.

Who Writes Family Reports?

A court-appointed Family Consultant is frequently the writer of a Family Report. In cases when there is a parenting dispute, they can also be jointly elected by both parties.

A psychologist or a social worker prepares and writes the Family Report. These individuals have the necessary abilities and experience working with children and families to help children reach the greatest potential outcome. As a result, Family Consultants are considered specialists in the field of children’s issues.

What is the price of a Family Report?

If neither party has the financial means to pay for a Family Report and the Court requires one, the costs are covered by the Court and the parties pay nothing. If the parties have agreed to organise a private family report, you may be requested to pay half of the fees unless the other party is willing to pay the full cost. Privately prepared Family Reports can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000, depending on the report writer.

Interviews with family members and family report questions

After a Family Report has been ordered, the Family Consultant will schedule appointments for the parents, children, and any other key individuals, such as family report interviews.

The times and venue of the interviews will be communicated to you. It is vital that you attend all of the interviews that the report writer has planned. Only under extreme situations can interview appointments be modified. If you do not show up for your appointment, the Family Report may not be completed, or it may cause delays or additional charges, which you may be required to pay. If you fail to show up for planned family report interviews, the family report writers are required to notify the court.

Individual interviews with each of the parents and children, as well as other relevant people in the children’s life such as partners, siblings, or grandparents, will be conducted by the Family Report Writer.

Consider the interviews to be an observation session done by the Family Report Writer. They’ll watch how you connect with the kids and the other party, as well as any other important people being interviewed.

Unless there are specific circumstances that preclude the children from being interviewed alone, which is rare, your children will be interviewed apart from any adults. You may have a joint session with the children in addition to the children having individual visits, so the report writer can see your relationship with the children and their behaviour towards you.

The goal of having individual appointments for your children is to allow them to talk freely and express their wishes without the pressure of either parent being there, though they will not be forced to do so if they do not wish to.

Your children may be monitored by qualified professionals in a secure and neutral area away from any potential adult conflict during interviews, but you should check with the Family Report Writer ahead of time to see what services they can provide. It’s possible that you’ll need to bring someone to look after the kids while you’re being interviewed.

How long does it take to complete a Family Report?

Once a Family Report has been ordered by the Court, scheduling appointments for family report interviews might take up to two months. For Family Reports, where report writers have been hired and are paid privately by the parties, interviews are frequently scheduled much more quickly.

Interviews with family members usually last a full day. If the problem is complicated and the Family Report Writer requires more time for interviews, extra appointments may be planned for another day.

It can take up to six weeks for the report writer to issue the Family Report after all of the interviews have been completed.

Are the Family Report Interviews Confidential?

The interviews for the Family Report are not kept private. If it is relevant, anything you tell the Family Consultant or anything the Family Consultant sees will be reported.

The Family Report is a private document. The Family Report is only visible to the parties and anyone interested in the proceedings (if your case is in court). Without the Court’s authorisation, it is illegal to show the Family Report to anyone else, including any people questioned by the Family Consultant. If the Family Report is acceptable and/or helpful, the Court can make Orders allowing psychologists to view it.

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