THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Attorney-General
Minister for Emergency Management
MEDIA RELEASE
NEW WEB TOOL TRANSLATES FAMILY LAW INTO PLAIN LANGUAGE
Plain language explanations of common family law terms will become accessible with the release of a new web-based tool.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC today launched the Family Law TermFinder, an online resource to provide Australians with accessible and authoritative translations of the most common family law terms.
This web resource is an important source of information for anyone involved with family law who wants to better understand the system, Mr Dreyfus said.
Family Law TermFinder will be especially useful for families living in rural or remote areas and for those who represent themselves in family law proceedings.
Professionals delivering services in the family law field will also be able to use TermFinder definitions to explain terms using common and easily understood language.
The Family Law TermFinder is a great resource and it will help people who represent themselves in court but it is a source of information, not legal advice, Mr Dreyfus said.
The Government provided a $60,000 grant to create the Family Law TermFinder, which was developed by Macquarie University, in partnership with the Australian National University and the Australian Government.
Family Law TermFinder is an excellent example of a successful partnership between government and the research, legal and services sectors, Mr Dreyfus said.
Family Law TermFinder provides information in context and it can be used visually or through aural mediums to meet different levels of literacy and cognitive styles.
Information provided by Family Law TermFinder is also being translated into several community languages, so Australians from non-English speaking backgrounds can access the resource.
The Family Law TermFinder is currently being translated into Mandarin, Cantonese and Arabic, to be completed by the middle of 2013.
Family Law TermFinder can be accessed at: http://lawtermfinder.mq.edu.au
FRIDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2013
