Family Law Disclosure

From Rule to Requirement

Written By Amanda Little

From 10 June 2025, the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) brings a significant shift to the family law landscape, with one of the most important procedural updates being the elevation of the duty of disclosure from the court rules into the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) itself.

This change isn’t just a matter of semantics—it reflects a growing emphasis on procedural fairness and transparency and introduces statutory obligations with potentially serious legal consequences for non-compliance.

This change will affect firms nationwide and will require a change to many firms who do not follow best practice procedure in relation to consent matters or follow the central practice directions ongoing duties of disclosure.

What Has Changed?

Previously, the duty of disclosure in financial and property proceedings was governed by the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth), namely Rule 6.06 in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) Rules. While these rules were binding, their location outside the principal Act meant they were sometimes misunderstood or downplayed by parties (and occasionally practitioners).

The Family Law Amendment Act 2024 inserts the duty of disclosure directly into the Family Law Act 1975, giving it statutory weight and thereby reinforcing its centrality to just outcomes. This also codifies the financial disclosure obligations contained within the Central Practice Direction.
Under the amended legislation, separating couples in financial and property matters are now legally required to:

Provide full and frank disclosure of all relevant financial information to each other and the Court.
Do so in a timely manner, avoiding delay or evasion.
Disclose documents and information that may adversely affect their own case or support the other party’s case.
Provide ongoing duty of disclosure throughout the matter.

Legislative Reference

The new disclosure requirements will form part of a broader legislative approach to increase compliance and reduce the risk of injustice caused by one party concealing financial information. There will now be stricter penalties for breach including:

• Costs Orders

• Exclusion of evidence

• Fines

• Possible contempt proceedings

• Orders being overturned at a later date.

Practitioners also need to consider how this extends to their duties to the Court.

Agreements by Consent

It has been the practice by many firms not to require their clients to undertake full financial disclosure or make them sign a statement accepting that they are not seeking financial disclosure in Family Law settlement matters.

Although the need to exchange is not new, the entrenchment of the provisions means, that now more then ever, practitioners need to ensure that full financial disclosure is exchanged for ALL family law property matters even if an agreement is reached.

You cannot contract out of the requirement for full and frank disclosure or release a lawyer from liability by failing to undertake it. This is also confirmed by the practitioner statement executed by the lawyer at the end of the Application for Consent Orders and on the Statement of Independent Legal Advice in a Financial Agreement.

What Practitioners Must Do

As a legal practitioner, your obligations have become more explicit:

1. Proactively Advise Clients of the Duty

It is no longer sufficient to mention disclosure in passing or rely on standard forms. Lawyers must:

Clearly explain the duty of disclosure at the outset of any financial matter.
Outline the types of documents and information that must be disclosed (e.g., tax returns, bank statements, business records, superannuation balances, liabilities, trusts, and interests in property or companies).
Emphasise that this includes unfavourable information and that failure to disclose can backfire severely.

All FamDraft Members of Family Law Education Network meet this obligation in P1 and P2 correspondence and ongoing correspondence to be issued during the matter pursuant to the matter workflow/checklist.

2. Update Client-Facing Documents

Now is the time to revise:
Initial advice letters
Mediation preparation guides
FDR and pre-action procedure checklists
Key dates correspondence

All these materials should now include a clear and plain-language explanation of the client’s statutory duty to disclose, including examples and consequences for non-compliance.

All FamDraft Members have access to fully compliant and well drafted correspondence and client facing documents that go beyond this and meet best practice guidelines.

3. Train and Prepare Your Team

Educate all staff (including junior solicitors, paralegals, and admin teams) on the new legislative requirements. Ensure consistency in communication to clients about disclosure obligations from the first contact through to hearing preparation.

Hold in house training sessions to explain what full and frank disclosure includes, ensure your admin and support staff diarise and chase clients accordingly and reiterate to clients form the outset the full and frank disclosure is not negotiable.

Final Thoughts on the Entrenchment from the Family Law Education Network Team

This reform is part of a broader push toward efficiency, fairness, and integrity within the family law system. By elevating disclosure obligations into the Act, the legislature has sent a clear message: transparency is not optional.

This means that disclosure should be part of the first and last discussion that you have with a family law client going through a property settlement. You are unable to cut corners or contract out of the need to exchange disclosure in matters where the parties have already reached an agreement when they seek advice from you – it still MUST occur.

For family law practitioners, this presents an opportunity to enhance the quality of service to clients while reducing risks of adverse orders, appeals, or professional complaints.