Academics involved in an official study of the Family law have called for changes to the legislation.
Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw of the University of South Australia and Professor Thea Brown of Monash University in Victoria were commissioned by the Federal Attorney-General to look into the impact of reforms to the Family Law Act that were introduced in 2006.
They surveyed more than 1,000 adults and 112 children, concluding that the system required a major overhaul if it was to give children’s safety the highest priority.
Commissioned academics find issues
Associate Professor Bagshaw said the study revealed that parents who reported family violence were often not believed, while many children were not consulted or asked for their input into new parenting arrangements. She said if 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,” Professor Bagshaw said.
“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.”
Professor Bagshaw said children wanted to be consulted about parenting arrangements, particularly where there was family violence.
She said there are some cases where parents have separated, and the children are put in a dangerous situation when they spend time alone with the perpetrator.
The 2006 changes to the Family Law Act were supposed to restructure and expand services to promote a change of thinking and behaviour in post-separation parenting.
Instead the study found that, where there was family violence, both men and women were very dissatisfied with responses from lawyers, Family Relationship Centres, Centrelink, the Child Support Agency and the Family Courts.
Professor Bagshaw said respondents to the survey did not think the services understood family violence, its impact on them or on their children regarding their care, both before and after the 2006 legislation.
The study also found that a presence or a history of family violence affected mothers, fathers and children in terms of their decisions to separate, to access services, how they used them and how they parented post separation.
The report is available at www.apo.org.au
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