Federal govt plans overhaul of Family Law Act to focus on children's best interest tests, remove equal share of parental responsibility presumption

The government wants to introduce a list of six factors the court must consider to determine whether an arrangement is in the best interests of a child when making orders for their care.

The proposed legislation would also remove a presumption that requires both parents to be consulted on long-term decisions for their children, which inquiries have found causes confusion and advocates have said can lead to perpetrators of family violence being granted ongoing access to their children.

The proposed legislation would also expand the definition of family members for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to recognise wider concepts of family and kinship.

The best interest factors include promoting a child's safety, the child's views, the needs of the child, the benefit of maintaining relationships with each parent if it is safe, and the ability of proposed carers to provide for the child's needs.

The federal government will on Monday release a discussion paper on its proposed changes to the Family Law Act, with submissions open until February 27.

Angela Lynch, the advocacy manager at Full Stop Australia - an organisation supporting people affected by sexual, domestic or family violence - said the existing parental presumption had made it harder for victims of family violence to limit contact with children on the basis of safety.

"We completely and fully support the removal of the presumption of equal share of parental responsibility. It has caused huge issues and huge problems for women and children escaping domestic violence in Australia since its introduction," Ms Lynch said.

"These laws have really distorted the system and made it very confusing and leads to a lot of misunderstanding. They need to be changed and we need to have a real primary focus on the safety and best interests of children."

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the proposed changes would implement recommendations from a 2019 Australian Law Reform Commission report and elements of a 2021 parliamentary inquiry.

There had been more than two-dozen reviews into the family law system under the previous government, he said.

"These long overdue proposed reforms replace the often confusing law around parenting arrangements with a simpler child-focused framework that will guide parents who can agree on their own post-separation parenting arrangements," Mr Dreyfus said in a statement.