Speech of The Honourable Diana Bryant
Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia
Melbourne, Victoria May 20 2008
Today I have the pleasure of launching a report on our cultural diversity project, ‘Families and the law in Australia’.
Some basic assumptions informed our decision that this was something the Court needed to do.
In these very basic respects, the Australian family law system may be radically different from that known to many new settlers.
Additionally, members of new and emerging communities often come from countries where courts are associated with oppression or corruption. They are therefore fearful of courts and authority.
The Family Court has a longstanding and demonstrable commitment to working with new and emerging communities to improve awareness and understanding of family law.
The Family Court took a deliberate, structured approach to addressing cultural diversity issues in 2000, with the formation of the Family Court’s National Cultural Diversity Committee.
This was set up by the then Chief Justice, Alistair Nicholson, and chaired by Justice Mushin.
The first step was an access and equity audit which led to further discussions with key stakeholders and a national roundtable conference in April 2003.
In 2004, the Court launched a National Cultural Diversity Plan which identified not only the pathway, but also the actions to be implemented during 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Between 2004 and 2006, the Court implemented the Living in Harmony Partnership with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
The approaches developed through the National Cultural Diversity Plan, and reflected in the Living in Harmony Partnership, have been particularly successful in enhancing the Court’s capacity to understand and engage with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
We believe that partnerships with culturally diverse communities can improve the experience of clients within the family law system.
This occurs through increased knowledge, awareness, trust and acceptance of the rule of law, as it applies in family law in Australia, among new and emerging communities.
Projects in NSW (Parramatta), Victoria (Melbourne, Shepparton), SA (Adelaide), and TAS (Hobart and Launceston) were undertaken with the Ethiopian, Eritrean, Sudanese, Somali, Iraqi and Afghan communities, on the basis that they were new and emerging communities in which there were relevant family law issues to be considered.
The partnership aimed to develop and strengthen relations between communities and the Family Court, as well as facilitate cross-community engagement between different new and emerging communities around matters of families and the law.
The partnership encompassed a range of approaches to addressing harmony and disharmony that were both:
Melbourne developed an education program in partnership with the Magistrates Court of Victoria and the African Welfare Council of Victoria, and of course with the Horn of Africa communities of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.
The African communities chose gender balanced elders and leaders to participate in the education workshops.
The community-selected Horn of Africa Bilingual Educators were trained about the family law system in the Commonwealth and Victorian State jurisdictions, focusing on areas identified by those community members. Court staff helped design and deliver the training program.
The strategy for Parramatta used the concept of “the best interests of the child”, providing a link to the diverse range of communities.
Many of the issues raised in the consultations did not relate to the Family Court, as communities do not delineate between the agencies.
Therefore, a partnership was developed between the Family Court; the Somali, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Sudanese, Iraqi, and Afghan communities; NSW Police; The Department of Communities Services; Baulkham Hills Holroyd Parramatta Migrant Resource Centre; and legal aid.
As with Melbourne, the Parramatta case study relied upon significant levels of unpaid involvement by the migrant resource centre and the goodwill of some of the bilingual workers to work on weekends to implement the project.
Project sustainability was therefore a challenge.
In Launceston playback theatre was used most successfully with the Eritrean and South Sudanese communities.
Playback theatre is spontaneous, improvised theatre created through collaboration between performers and the audience.
The key strength of the approach was that it enabled community members to tell their own experiences.
In Adelaide, an awareness education strategy was developed about family law for Migrant Resource Centre workers.
The partnership aimed to deliver a number of community engagement sessions that would help demystify the Australian legal process, the court system and identify distinct agency roles.
The Family Court’s information sessions also helped to put a ‘face’ to the Court and de-stigmatised it work.
This in turn encouraged community members to use the Court’s services.
At the conclusion of the Living in Harmony project I was honoured to present certificates to participants in the project in Melbourne and Parramatta.
I had a valuable opportunity to meet with people from culturally diverse communities at those functions and was told how the complexities of Australian law can seem overwhelming for newcomers.
It was a privilege for the Court to work with new and emerging communities and we have learnt a great deal through this process of engagement:- how they perceive the Court; how they can work with the Court for mutual benefit and how open new and emerging communities are to learning about Australian law.
Community members spoke to me about the plethora of laws that apply to every-day life and how confusing they found the division of responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the States.
They talked of being confronted by Australian law on almost a daily basis, and their desire to understand it, as they try to make new lives for themselves and their children.
I sincerely believe that many of these concerns have been addressed and overcome through the Living in Harmony project.
The project was not a one-way street and both the Court and the communities learned a lot from each other.
The project serves as a model for other similar initiatives.
Australia in the 21st century is characterised by extraordinary levels of diversity.
The promotion of law and cross-cultural issues has emerged from the recognition of the multicultural character of Australia and the desire to improve access to the legal system for all Australians.
It is also consistent with policy initiatives which hold that all members of our society have the right to equal and appropriate access to services.
The Family Court of Australia has undertaken extensive work to remove barriers that exist for diverse communities in their attempts to access the family law system.
Issues such as the lack of availability of appropriate interpreters, gaps in the provision of family law information and low levels of awareness of the Family Court and its role have been identified and sought to be addressed at national and local (Registry) level.
The evaluation of the Living in Harmony Partnership makes clear that there have been substantial gains for the Family Court and our partner agencies.
Most of all, there have been gains for the communities themselves. It has also made clear how important it is to continue to nurture relationships and foster mutual understanding and respect.
The work we have done in this area is but a small dent on the surface, showing what is possible and what the benefits are when organisations have the resources to work with communities on truly innovative community-based strategies.
Cultural diversity initiatives have benefited the Family Court in enabling us to better serve our clients and enhance the credibility of the family law system.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity today to tell you about the Family Court’s important work in the area of cultural diversity, in particular its work with the Horn of Africa, Iraqi and Afghan communities.
My message to you is that processes which effectively engage new and emerging communities add enormous value to the way that courts and justice agencies – indeed, all agencies – operate.
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