SBS and Facebook have today announced The Family Law will premiere exclusively on Facebook, with the entire first episode to be pre-released on the social media platform ahead of its TV launch.

This is the first time an Australian scripted and commissioned new series has premiered on Facebook.

The first episode will be published directly to Facebook and available for viewing within the Facebook platform for one weekend only from 5pm Friday 8 January – midnight Sunday 10th January, before The Family Law hits TV screens on Thursday 14 January, 8.30pm on SBS.

SBS Director of TV and online content Marshall Heald said, “As audiences move more freely between platforms and devices, we as a broadcaster have to move with them. We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to bring SBS content to all Australians, and Facebook offers such a unique one-to-one viewing experience. The Family Law is one of SBS’s most hotly anticipated programs for 2016, and we’re thrilled to be able to surprise our audience by inviting them to meet The Laws early with this Australian-first Facebook premiere.”

Jason Juma-Ross, Facebook’s Australian head of technology, entertainment and communications said, “Facebook is fast becoming the place where people discover new video content. Eleven million Australians visit Facebook each day, 91 per cent of these via a mobile phone. We are excited to be partnering with SBS on this first look event and to enable The Family Law to be shown on demand to the broad Facebook audience.”

All new six-part series The Family Law is based on Benjamin Law’s hit memoir of the same name. Through the eyes of 14-year-old Benjamin, and set over the course of a long, hot, Queensland summer, this is a show about sabotaged expectations, growing pains, finding your place in the world, and the strange embarrassment we feel towards the people we’re supposed to love the most: our family.