On 2 September 2021 the Attorney General for Australia and Minister for Industrial Relations arranged a joint media release titled ‘improving the visibility of superannuation assets in family law proceedings’.
The content of the media release included notice of the passing in Parliament legislation to improve the visibility of superannuation assets in family law proceedings.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measure No. 6) Bill 2021 (Schedule 5) will allow the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to release superannuation information to a family law Court upon request.
In circumstances where a party to family law proceedings is avoiding their obligations to disclosure their superannuation interests and entitlements, an applicant who is a party to proceedings may apply to the Court Registry to request their former party’s superannuation information held by the ATO.
In some cases, superannuation is the most significant asset of the parties or forms a substantial part of the assets of the parties for separating couples.
These amendments will make it harder for parties to hide one or all their superannuation assets in family law proceedings, and will reduce the complexity, time and cost for parties seeking information about their former partner’s superannuation.
Parties to property proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 will be able to apply to the Registries of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for access to superannuation information from 1 April 2022.
This article was published on 20/09/22 and the information is valid only to the date of publishing. This article should be considered merely general and non-specific on the subject matter and is not and should not be considered or relied on as legal, advice. Meehans Solicitors is not responsible in the event this information is relied upon by the reader in the absence of specific legal advice.
