New Family Law Regulations

27/02/2025

The new Family Law Regulations 2024 will come into force on 1 April 2025, and the existing Family Law Regulations 1984 will cease on that date.

Similarly, the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2025 will replace the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2001 and commence on 1 April 2025.

As the Family Law Regulations 2024 replace the Family Law Regulations 1984, many sections replicate and update provisions from that instrument to update legislative references, including prescribed Commonwealth and state and territory law, agencies and offices and ministerial titles. Some sections in the 2024 Regulations are renumbered.

The following parts of the new Regulations have the most significant updates:

• Part 3 - Arbitration: this Part provides requirements relating to arbitration, including the eligibility requirements for arbitrators, the introduction of additional safeguards that must be met before an arbitration can commence, and procedural considerations and how arbitral awards are to be made and registered. This also incorporates the amendments made by the Family Law Amendment (Arbitration) Regulations 2024, which relate to the eligibility requirements for arbitrators, and commenced on 1 August 2024.
• Part 7 - Children: Part 7 Division 7 of the new Regulations replicates and updates Part IIA of the existing Regulations, with some amendments. Most significantly, in s 59, DNA typing is now the only medical procedure that is prescribed for the purposes of the definition of 'parentage testing procedure' in sub-s 4(1) of the Family Law Act.
• Part 10 - International conventions, international agreements and international enforcement: Part 10 of the new Regulations replicates and updates Parts IIAB, IIAC, III and IV of the 1984 regulations, with some amendments. Divisions 2 and 3 have been updated to ensure the provisions relating to service are more aligned with Australia's international obligations under the Hague Service Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters and other international conventions which apply in civil and commercial matters.

The Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2025 (the 2025 Regulations) support the operation of Parts VIIB and VIIC of the Family Law Act 1975 with respect to the splitting of superannuation assets of separated couples. Like the 2001 Regulations, the 2025 Regulations enable trustees to share information about superannuation interests, provide formulae to value interests for family law purposes, and give practical effect to superannuation splitting orders and agreements.

The key changes that have been incorporated into the 2025 Regulations relate to:

1. Updating the 'default' methods and factors used for valuing certain superannuation interests, including updates to the demographic and economic assumptions which underpin these methods and factors.
2. Ensuring innovative retirement income stream products are captured consistently with other superannuation interests for family law purposes.
3. Clarifying key terms used in the Regulations including 'base amount' and 'component of a superannuation interest'.
4. Introducing flexibility to the way a non-member spouse provides information to a trustee following the making of a superannuation splitting order or agreement.
5. Expanding the types of superannuation interests for which the Minister may approve valuation methods and factors.
6. Introducing a transition factor to mitigate any unintended consequences of the 2025 Regulations on superannuation orders or agreements made before 1 April 2025.
7. Minor and technical amendments to ensure consistency throughout the Regulations.