More changes are needed to Australia's family law legislation, according to academics who were commissioned by the Federal Attorney-General to undertake a study of the national system following changes to it in 2006.
UniSA adjunct Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw, and Professor Thea Brown from Monash University co-led the national study which included researchers from UniSA, James Cook University and Monash University. They surveyed more than 1000 adults and 112 children, and their results have concluded that the family law system must be overhauled to give children's safety the highest priority.
Associate Prof Bagshaw said the themes expressed in the 2006 changes to the Family Law Act were to focus on the children and collaborative parenting; greater involvement of both parents; and protection of children from violence and abuse.
However Associate Prof Bagshaw said the study shows that parents experienced disbelief when they reported family violence, and children were often not consulted or asked for their input into new parenting arrangements and when they were, their views were often disregarded.
"Putting the needs of children first was said to be a priority in the 2006 family law reform, yet the children we spoke to felt powerless and that they had no voice," she said. "In particular, where there was family violence they said they wanted to be consulted about parenting arrangements.
"The system must be overhauled to give children's safety the highest priority. There are children who are being subjected to serious abuse and neglect because under the current system shared parenting is given higher priority and children's voices are often not heard. There are cases where parents have separated and the children then spend time alone with the perpetrator, putting them in a dangerous situation."
The aim of the 2006 changes were to achieve a profound shift in community and parental thinking and actions in parenting post separation and divorce; and to support this with a re-structured and expanded services system.
However, the national study also found that, where there is family violence, there is huge dissatisfaction from both men and women with responses from lawyers, Family Relationship Centres, Centrelink, the Child Support Agency and the Family Courts.
"Overall, respondents to our survey were dissatisfied with their experiences of using the service system both before and after the 2006 legislation because they did not think the services understood family violence, its impact on them or on their children regarding their care," Associate Prof Bagshaw said.
In addition, the researchers found that a presence or a history of family violence did affect mothers, fathers and children in terms of their decisions to separate, to access services, how they used them and how they parented post separation as well as the constraints of the legislation and the services established.
The full report can be viewed at http://www.apo.org.au/research/family-violence-and-family-law-australia
To access the original news item visit: http://www.unisa.edu.au/news/2010/190710.asp
