Family Court counselling could face axe

Family Court counselling could face the axe, with a review raising questions about the effectiveness of the service and whether taxpayers should be footing the bill.

In April, the Government ordered a review of the Family Court as part of an effort to reign in spiralling costs.

The court's expenditure has increased from $83.9 million in July 2005 to $137.1 million, with legal aid and family-related services among the significant drivers of costs.

Justice Minister Simon Power today called for public feedback on the review, releasing a discussion document for submissions.

The court's counselling services are among the topics canvassed in the document, with the central focus on who should be paying.

Free counselling is currently available on request, and are the main way for people to get assistance with relationship issues outside of the court process.

While some stakeholders supported the ongoing use and government funding of counselling, the document said others were ambivalent towards the services, noting that there was little evidence of its effectiveness in helping resolve disputes.

"The most critical consideration is whether this type of service should be funded by the state at all, and whether parties seeking support to resolve their relationship issues should be asked to contribute to or pay for that service," the document said.

"If counselling was to continue to be supported in some way by Government it would be important to address the uncertain focus of the service and the number of sessions that should be provided."

Critics also said it might not be appropriate for counselling to be accessed through the courts because, if it did not help to resolve the dispute, people might think court was the next step. They also said it was inappropriate for the state to fund the service, particularly for people who could afford to pay, or for couples using the service who did not have dependent children.

Internationally mediation was being used as the primary dispute resolution process, and the document discussed shifting to mandatory mediation.

Another issue raised in the document was encouraging people to solve their problems outside court, with almost all involved agreeing families achieved better outcomes when they resolved their own disputes.

The document said community education and accessible information for families would be crucial in helping outside resolution.

There were also questions raised about which cases should come before the Family Court, and how some cases could be resolved without judicial intervention.

"The court could be given more powers to screen applications and direct parties to undertake an alternative means of settlement, or limit the numbers of repeat applications," the document suggested.

The closing date for submissions on the report is February 12.