Under the changes, the Family Court will be required to ask parents if there was abuse or a threat of abuse in the relationship.

The federal government believes this change will encourage more victims to raise the problem as many are too scared to bring it up, worried they would be unable to prove abuse.

As well, the court would be required to ask whether children were exposed to abuse from a parent, and this would be taken into consideration when hearing custody cases. The Family Law Act has been amended to say: ''A child is exposed to family violence if the child sees or hears family violence or otherwise experiences the effects of family violence.''

The federal Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, who has lobbied for the changes, said much family violence remained ''invisible to the legal system'' and she wanted to send a message that it had no place in Australian society.

"Unfortunately, more than half of the parenting cases that come to courts involve allegations by one or both parties that the other has been violent," Ms Roxon said.