VPRS 12499 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court Maintenance Act and Family Law Act Registers

Full description

This series consists of registers which contain a record of maintenance proceedings heard at South Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court.

The Maintenance Act 1928 and previously successive Marriages Acts established provisions for maintenance support to be provided by husbands who had left their wives or children without means of support. Courts of Petty Sessions were empowered to hear complaints regarding desertion and to set levels and enforce the payment of maintenance. This legislation was superseded by the Maintenance Act 1965. However the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975 also has provision for the granting of maintenance and most orders are now made under this Act.

Most courts maintained a separate register for maintenance and family law matters, although the register was in the same format as all other petty sessions court registers. Maintenance and Family Law Registers were used to record three types of maintenance matters: applications for the court to set a level of maintenance; applications for the court to vary the level of maintenance and applications for the court to enforce payments to be made where maintenance orders had been breached. Failure to comply resulted in the imprisonment of the defendant.

Maintenance Act and Family Law Act Registers give details of the names of the complainant (usually the wife) and the defendant (usually the husband), the nature of the matter before the court and the court's decision.