This update is to inform the public and profession of a change to the title of private practitioners who prepare 62G family reports, pursuant to an appointment under the Family Law Regulations.
Court Children Service (CCS) Reports, generally ordered under s 62G Family Law Act 1975 (FLA), are undertaken by practitioners carrying out the functions of a family consultant (as defined in s11A FLA).
There are two types of practitioners that undertake family consultant functions:
- Court employees who are appointed as a family consultant under Commonwealth legislation. These employees hold the position of Court Child Expert.
- Private practitioners, assessed by the Court as having appropriate qualifications and experience, and paid by the Courts on a fee for service basis. These practitioners are appointed as a family consultant under the Family Law Regulations. They were formerly referred to as Regulation 7 Family Consultants as Reg 7 was the relevant regulation under the Family Law Regulations 1984. However, the commencement of the Family Law Regulations 2024 on 1 April 2025 saw the relevant regulation change to Reg 40, hence these practitioners have been referred to as Regulation 40 Family Consultants since that date.
The FCFCOA has made a decision to change the title given to this second group of practitioners. From 1 July 2025 the current register of appointed Regulation 40 Family Consultants will be referred to as the “FCFCOA Panel of Family Consultants”, and a practitioner on this Panel will be referred to as a “Panel Family Consultant”. It is considered that referring to this group of practitioners as being on a formal panel, more accurately reflects the criticalness of this workforce for the Courts and that the workforce operates within the governance of the Courts (through CCS). The removal from the title of the specific regulation number under which they are appointed will avoid the need to change the title in the future if the regulation number is further amended.
