On 29 November 2024, the Family Law Amendment Bill 2024 passed both houses. This Bill, among other matters, introduced significant changes to the treatment of pets when parties separate.
Historically, when parties separate and rely on the provisions of the Family Law Act in dealing with their property, belove “fur-babies” were treated as just that – property. This meant that pets were treated like any other property like furniture and cars. The result was often that whoever the pet was registered too, would be entitled to the pet as part of any property settlement. This approach, failed to take into account the important mental, emotional and psychological bonds that parties form with their pets.
The Family Law Amendment Bill 2024 aimed to amend the property decision-making framework within the Family Law Act to prescribe companion animals as a specific type of property to which a new set of considerations would apply. “Companion” is defined as an “animal kept by the parties to a marriage or either of them, or the parties to a de facto relationship or either of them, primarily for the purpose of companionship”. A pet who is an assistance animal (provides support to a person with a disability) or a pet that is kept as part of a business, for agricultural purposes and/or for laboratory tests are specifically excluded from this definition.
As part of these changes, Courts will now be specifically required to consider how the pet was acquired, who has possession of and has cared for the pet during the course of the relationship, the level of care provided by each party, financial and non-financial contributions to care and capacity to care in the future.
The abuse of animals is specifically recognised as a form of family violence in the National Principles to Address Coercive Control. In determining the care and control of pets, the Court will now be required to consider any issues of family violence (including any history of actual or threatened cruelty or abuse of a companion animal, recognising that coercive control can extend to the treatment of pets. This will undoubtedly assist family violence victims retain companion pets where this may not otherwise have occurred.
This represents another important reform to our Family Law system, aimed and making the system safer and fairer.