Blog

On the 30 May the Commonwealth Attorney-General announced that the Federal Circuit Court and the Family Court of Australia will be merged into a single court to be known as the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCA). The new court will start to operate from 1 January 2019....

On 22 May, FGD, together with local Canberra artist Amy Dunn, welcomed guests to the opening of Amy’s exhibition, SAFE OPERATING SPACE. As FGD’s CEO and Amy’s dad, Jim Dunn kicked off the evening with a short speech, before Amy explained her work and the exhibition.

It is very common for people today to have some type of mental illness or to take prescription medication for depression or anxiety. Most are high functioning, impressive individuals who you would not suspect had such difficulties. Many of our clients are in that category. But often our clients come...

Coming out of a relationship will be emotional and at times confusing, possibly lonely.  So when is the right time to begin dating and meeting new people, and perhaps connecting with someone to share your life with moving forward? The answer… there is no timeline when one is ready to...

In 2017 the Law Council of Australia (the peak body for all state and territory Law Societies and Bar Associations) established “The Justice Project”. This enquiry is a study of the impediments to “Access to Justice” for Australians who are suffering significant economic and other disadvantage, for example, persons with...

We are involved in matters that are in either the Federal Circuit Court or the Family Court on a regular basis. As we attend court so often, we are used to the Court room “players” and the lingo. We appreciate however, that not everyone is as comfortable in these environments, so this blog is aimed at giving you an understanding of who is in the Court room and how they should be referred to.

Farrar Gesini Dunn  are proud to be associated with Karinya House, a community based organisation supporting vulnerable and at risk pregnant and early parenting women in Canberra and the surrounding region.

The issue of gender dysphoria has been in the media quite a bit recently.  This issue is of particular interest to me as an Independent Children’s Lawyer (ICL) as ICLs are often appointed to represent the best interests of the child involved.

It is not uncommon that following a separation one party remains in the family home and pays the mortgage instalments and the other party leaves and accommodates themselves elsewhere, usually paying rent. 

Sometimes people come to us thinking that their relationship doesn’t meet the definition of de facto. Whether it is a young couple in their twenties who never shared a house but have been dating since their first year of university, a single mother who was only dating the father of...

When parents give money … It is fairly common that in a property settlement an issue arises about how to treat a gift made to the couple by one of their parents.  It is quite common for parents to assist their children by a gift, or by loan which later...

When I started here it was 2006.  James Blunt was big and nobody had an iPhone yet.  The family law community in Canberra looked pretty different – in fact the only ‘big’ firm that existed then that exists in the same form now was Farrar Gesini Dunn.  In fairness we...