National Contravention List : What if Family Court Orders are not Followed in Mackay?

It is a common question that we get asked at Family Lawyers Mackay, what happens if Family Court Orders are not followed? It can be a complicated situation, there can be a lot of reasons why that may be the case.

One of the new initiatives that are being introduced with the new merged Court after 1st September 2021 is a new National Contravention List, which is a new system from the Court to try and address the concern of Court Orders not being followed. This will apply across the country, including locally in Mackay. One of the features of the new system will be that any application regarding a contravention that is issued in the new system will be given a first Court date within 14 days. There is a commitment in this system to deal with these applications quickly. It does not matter whether the orders that you are dealing with were made by the Court in Mackay or elsewhere, if you are now in Mackay the Family Court system in Mackay can deal with the matter now.

So what happens if you break the orders?

Unless an application to the court is made, nothing. If someone would like to bring an application regarding a contravention, then the court will decide if it’s proven or not. If it is, they have a range of powers including:

• Punishing the person who’s found to have contravened (fines, prison, community service, bond, warnings, etc); 
• Alteration of orders including orders for make up time or costs orders; and 
• They can even revive the case and start the case running again to a fresh trial.

Within our team and Family Lawyers Mackay, we understand that family law situations can be complicated. Sometimes it may be the right course to issue an application to the Court. At other times it may be preferable to try and discuss the situation and attempt to resolve it without going to Court. We also take great care to ensure that we draft orders as carefully as possible, and use our experience in Family Law to minimize the chances that Orders won’t be followed in the future.

Whether you have a new family law situation that needs to be dealt with, or you have existing orders that either no longer suit the situation or are not being followed, early advice from an experienced family law team is crucial in making the best decisions about how to proceed. 

Call the Friendly Team at Family Lawyers Mackay for advice tailored to your situation. (07) 4847 0198

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