Renishka Naidoo-Weisse

Special Counsel

Renishka is an accomplished professional with more than 20 years’ experience in the Victorian legal profession.

She has practiced law since 2002, following her completion of a Bachelor of Arts/Law degree in 2000 at LaTrobe University.

Renishka’s expertise ranges from advice, negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, mediation and litigation across a wide range of matters affecting married and domestic partners. This includes separation and divorce, property rights, spousal maintenance, superannuation splitting, child support and parenting matters.

Renishka also appears in the Magistrate’s Court for Intervention Order matters involving family violence issues. Renishka’s previous experience also extends to Succession Law, Agribusiness, Commercial Law, Property Law and Practice Management. This experience continues to inform her family law practice.

Renishka has been a member of the Law Institute of Victoria since 2002. Her community efforts range from volunteering at Victoria’s Consumer Law Centre to conducting a legal segment on radio station Joy 94.9. When away from work, Renishka is an avid reader, enjoys baking and gathers family for travelling, day trips and weekends away.

Vicki Zrajko

Next Team Member

At Empower Family Law we understand the pressure our clients are under and the distress they feel. We work diligently to navigate them through to better times.

We take pride in offering our clients expert advice tailored to their situation and empowering them to achieve the best possible result.

Want to know more about the Empower Team?

Meet the Team

Speak with us

Your first 30-minute consultation is free. Call (03) 7020 6542 or contact our team to discuss your circumstances and next steps.

The work this involves

Renishka's practice covers advice, negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, mediation and litigation across matters affecting married and domestic partners.

Separation and divorce. Separation is a question of fact; divorce is a separate legal process requiring 12 months and one day of separation, and it resolves nothing about property or children. See divorce and separation.

Property rights. The same principles apply to married and de facto couples, under different sections of the Act. For de facto couples two threshold questions come first: whether there was a genuine de facto relationship, and whether there is a geographical connection to a participating jurisdiction, being every state and territory except Western Australia. Time limits differ — 12 months from a final divorce, two years from a de facto separation. See property settlement and de facto relationships.

Spousal maintenance. Financial support for a former partner who cannot adequately support themselves, measured against the other party's capacity to pay. Both parties have an equal duty to support each other so far as they are able, and the duty can continue after separation and divorce. An entitlement ends on remarriage unless a court otherwise orders in special circumstances. See spousal maintenance.

Superannuation. Treated as a different type of property. Splitting does not convert superannuation to cash, is not mandatory, and must be done at the point financial arrangements are formalised. The fund's trustee must be given notice before a splitting order can be made. See superannuation.

Dispute resolution. Most matters resolve without a final hearing, and in parenting matters family dispute resolution is mandatory before an application can be filed unless an exemption is granted. See family mediation.

Arranging an appointment

Call (03) 7020 6542 or use the contact page. Initial appointments usually run for 1 to 1.5 hours, with the first 30 minutes at no charge, and remote appointments by Microsoft Teams are available.

Legal information in this section reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, as at 27 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice.

What is Renishka Naidoo-Weisse's role?

Renishka Naidoo-Weisse is Special Counsel at Empower Family Law & Mediation, with more than 20 years' experience in the Victorian legal profession. She has practised law since 2002, after completing a Bachelor of Arts/Law at LaTrobe University in 2000.

What does Renishka's practice cover?

Her expertise ranges across advice, negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, mediation and litigation in matters affecting married and domestic partners, including separation and divorce, property rights, spousal maintenance and superannuation. That breadth means she can act in matters that are resolved by negotiation or mediation as well as those that proceed to court.

How do I arrange an appointment with Renishka?

Call the firm on (03) 7020 6542 or use the contact page. Initial appointments usually run for 1 to 1.5 hours, with the first 30 minutes at no charge, and remote appointments by Microsoft Teams are available.

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Does it matter whether we were married or in a de facto relationship?

The principles applied to dividing property are the same, but they sit in different sections of the Family Law Act, and two threshold questions arise for de facto couples that do not arise for married couples. The first is whether there was a de facto relationship at all, which is a question of fact decided on matters such as the duration of the relationship, whether you lived together, the degree of financial interdependence and how the relationship was presented publicly. The second is whether there is a geographical connection to a participating jurisdiction, which is every state and territory except Western Australia. The time limits also differ: twelve months from the date a divorce order takes effect for married couples, and two years from separation for de facto couples. Renishka's practice covers matters affecting both married and domestic partners.

What happens at a first appointment?

You will be asked for your instructions, meaning your account of the situation and what you are trying to achieve, and you will be given legal advice on your rights, your entitlements and your options for settlement. The aim is that you leave with a thorough understanding of your options, what they are likely to cost, and what to expect from the firm. Initial appointments usually run for one to one and a half hours, which is longer than people expect, because a family law matter rarely divides neatly into one question. The first thirty minutes are at no charge. After the appointment a Costs Agreement follows, setting out the terms of your engagement and an estimate of your total legal costs.

How will I be charged, and when?

Work is billed at the lawyer's hourly rate, so you are charged for the time actually spent on your file rather than a fixed sum unrelated to the work done. After your first appointment you are sent a Costs Agreement, which sets out the terms of your engagement and gives an estimate of your total legal costs. A tax invoice follows at the end of each month, or on the conclusion of a significant event or court hearing, detailing the work undertaken. Two things are worth knowing generally: costs are driven far more by whether a matter is contested than by how complex it is, and court filing fees are set by regulation and payable separately from legal fees.

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