VPRS 12910 Maintenance Orders

Full description

The 1928 Maintenance Act and successive Marriage Acts established provisions for maintenance support. Courts of Petty Sessions ere empowered to hear complaints regarding desertion and neglect where these occurred independently from divorce proceedings, and to set levels and enforce the payment of maintenance. However in 1975 the Commonwealth Family Law Act came into effect and most maintenance orders were then made under this subsequent Act.

Maintenance orders made in the Supreme Court were registered with the Courts of Petty Sessions / Magistrates' Court for enforcement. The orders arrived at the court in a sealed envelope to be registered. The register so formed was the official register of these orders; they were not recorded elsewhere.

These files record the ongoing correspondence, forms, etc., associated with the enforcement of maintenance orders.

The files contain varying amounts of information, the bulk of which is correspondence between the court and the plaintiff about the collection of maintenance, the frequency of payments, changes of address, etc. There are also numerous forms prescribed under the various Maintenance Rules. Occasionally photographs are found on files. These photographs are of defendant (usually the husband or father of the person receiving maintenance) and were required for identification purposes. Details regarding default summonses and other court cases may also be included.
In addition there are four volumes tracking payments in compliance with maintenance orders, arranged chronologically by date of payment, each entry includes the name of the person making the payment, the type of order involved, and the amount paid.