VPRS 1530 Court of Petty Sessions Maintenance Register

The Maintenance Act 1928 and successive Marriage Acts established provisions for maintenance support to be provided by husbands who had left their wives and 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. The Maintenance Act 1965 is still in force in Victoria (as at 1992). The Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975 also has provision for the granting of custody and maintenance and most orders are now made under this Act.Successive Justices' Acts and more recently Magistrates Court Acts have required the clerk or registrar of the court to make and keep a register of convictions, orders and other proceedings of the court. This register is the authoritative record of the court. Most courts maintained a separate register for maintenance matters.This record was created to record and enforce the payment of maintenance following a court order requiring that maintenance be paid for the support of a child. For each order, the details recording these payments were spread over a double page. Details recorded at the top of both of the pages include: name of the child, Court making the order, (all orders in this series were made at Port Fairy Court of Petty Sessions except for one which was made at Hamilton), parents name and address. The name of only one parent is listed. The date of the order is recorded at the top of the second page along with the weekly amount which must be paid. Most of the first page is devoted to recording the monthly amounts paid and the balance due. Any later proceedings in relation to the order are recorded on the second page.

《1928年扶养法》及后续多部《婚姻法》确立了扶养给付规则，要求遗弃妻小且无经济能力供养的丈夫承担扶养义务。小额裁判法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）获权审理遗弃类纠纷，核定扶养费数额并强制义务人缴纳。截至1992年，《1965年扶养法》仍在维多利亚州有效施行。《1975年联邦家庭法》（Commonwealth Family Law Act）亦对抚养权授予与扶养费给付作出规制，当前绝大多数相关裁判均依据该法案作出。后续出台的多部《司法法》及近年的《治安法院法》（Magistrates Court Acts）要求法院书记员或登记官制作并留存法院的定罪记录、裁判文书及其他诉讼程序登记簿。该登记簿为法院的权威诉讼档案。绝大多数法院会单独设立扶养事务专用登记簿。本数据集记录系为记录并执行法院判令的儿童扶养费缴纳义务而编制。每一笔扶养裁判对应的缴费明细均记载于对开两页纸上。两页页眉处记录的信息包括：儿童姓名、作出裁判的法院（本批次所有裁判均由仙女港小额裁判法院[Port Fairy Court of Petty Sessions]作出，仅1笔裁判由汉密尔顿法院作出）、父母姓名与住址，且仅登记一名父母的信息。第二页页眉处同时记载裁判作出日期与每周应缴扶养费数额。第一页的绝大多数版面用于记录月度缴费金额与剩余未缴数额。与该裁判相关的后续诉讼程序均记录于第二页。