Chief Justice Elizabeth Evatt and the dream of the helping court

In this episode of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Michael Brown speaks the Hon Elizabeth Evatt, first Chief Justice of the Family Court about the creation of the court, the introduction of no-fault divorce, and the social changes that reshaped Australian family law. Justice Evatt reflects on being the first woman to lead an Australian court, the original vision of the Family Court as a less adversarial “helping court,” and the challenges of balancing legal reform with public resistance and limited resources.The conversation also explores the traumatic Family Court bombings of the 1980s, the impact they had on the judiciary, and Justice Evatt’s broader work on women’s rights, equality, and social reform through the Royal Commission on Human Relationships.