The 405 page Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms [PDF] by Rae Kaspiew, Matthew Gray, Ruth Weston, Lawrie Moloney, Kelly Hand & Lixia Qu of the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) considers the impact of changes such as -
* introducing a presumption of shared parental responsibility into the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth);The separate 275 page Family Courts Violence Review [PDF] by Professor Richard Chisholm AM for the Family Law Council (a statutory authority, established under section 115 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), with advisory responsibilities) consider the effectiveness of legislation and court practices in cases involving domestic violence.
* requiring separating parents to attend family dispute resolution before going to court, with some limited exceptions, including where there were issues relating to family violence; and
* establishing Family Relationship Centres to provide information, advice and assistance to families with relationship difficulties.
The Chisholm report complements the Family Violence report [PDF] regarding "Improving responses to family violence in the family law system: An advice on the intersection of family violence and family law issues".
The Attorney-General commented that -
The reports provide a comprehensive and objective analysis of the family law system against the aim of providing fair and sustainable solutions for families, while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children.The AIFS evaluation notes that the principle of 'shared parental responsibility' is widely supported, although often misconstrued as requiring equal shared care time. That misconception, according to AIFS, has led to unrealistic expectations among some parents and third parties such as grandparents.
The AIFS evaluation reports that the majority of parents in shared care arrangements believed those arrangements were working well but unsurprisingly there were concerns where there was an ongoing fear of domestic violence. The AIFS Director commented that -
for a substantial proportion of separated parents, there is evidence of significant family dysfunction: violence issues, safety concerns, mental health and substance misuse.The reports note a shift away from use of the family law courts, with more separated parents using family dispute resolution services. A consequence is that fewer disputes are being resolved through litigation.
And for children whose parents have concerns about the safety of their child or themselves from ongoing contact with the other parent, shared care-time arrangements exacerbate the negative impacts on children.
The evaluation provides clear evidence that while there have been some positive developments, the family law system has some way to go in effectively responding to family violence and child abuse, mental health and substance misuse.
Where there were safety concerns reported by parents, these were linked to poorer outcomes for their children in all types of care relationships, but for those in shared care time, it was even worse. This is a small but extremely significant minority.
The reports highlight issues relating to screening and handling family violence, including statutory provisions that potentially deter the disclosure of allegations.
Chisholm comments that -
More than half the parenting cases that come to the courts involve allegations by one or both parties that the other has been violent, and violence issues often go together with other problems, for example those associated with substance abuse and mental ill-health. Violence is bad for everyone, and particularly dangerous for children, whether or not it is directed specifically at them.Among more specific comments Chisholm discusses concerns regarding -
These cases present the courts with truly daunting tasks: to provide a setting in which the parties feel safe and confident that they will be treated with respect; to deal with the cases with necessary efficiency but most importantly with justice and fairness; and to ensure as far as possible that arrangements made for children, whether as a result of the parties' consent or by the court's adjudication, are suitable for their needs, which will include being safe and having both parents contribute to their developmental needs.
a process introduced by the 2006 amendments whereby the court has particular duties to examine cases when a particular document is filed – the Notice of Abuse or Family Violence. Under the Rules of court, parties are obliged to file such a notice where allegations of violence or abuse have been made. Experience has shown that this system is not working. ... because of this, and because issues of family violence and other risks factors are so common in parenting cases brought to the courts, it would be better to have a system of risk identification and assessment that applies to all parenting cases. This approach would reflect the best available thinking about these issues, and would reinforce a lot of measures that are already being taken by the courts to identify and deal with issues of violence as early as possible.Changes to the Act are also suggested. In particular -
three particular provisions need to be amended in a way that respects their original purposes but avoids the risk that they might deter victims of violence from making appropriate disclosures. They are the 'friendly parent' provision, the provision directing family advisers on what information to provide, and a provision for the making of costs orders where there are knowingly false allegations or statements.The Attorney-General offered the standard answer -
In essence, the recommendations are that the 'friendly parent' provision should be amended so it recognises that parents sometimes need to take action to protect children from risk; that the specific and separate costs provision (s 117AB) dealing with knowingly false allegations and statements should be replaced by a simple reference to the giving of knowingly false evidence in the provision that deals with costs (s 117); and that the information that advisers are required to provide should reflect not only the importance of parental involvement but also the importance of safety for children.
The Government is committed to improving the family law system so that separated families can effectively access the help they need and disputes can be resolved in the best interests of children.The release of the reports coincides with promotion of the Victoria Police Living free from violence: upholding the right (strategy to reduce violence against women and children 2009-2014) document, promoted as something that -
The Government will carefully consider the findings and recommendations of these reports, as well as other associated research, before outlining its response in due course.
demonstrates a public commitment by the police to improve their response to victims of family violence, sexual assault and child abuse. This includes a more effective response to perpetrators with decisive action and best practice investigative techniques that will ensure improved outcomes at court for victims.I'm obviously having a bad bad day: while I appreciate the value of symbols I'd hope that we could take the commitment as given and instead concentrate on both exemplary intervention and prosecution, for example a more positive stance regarding the indulgent treatment of corporate and sporting heroes who seem to recurrently mistake their intimates for punching bags, and a recognition of the subtleties highlighted by Marilyn Friedman in Autonomy, Gender, Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003), 140-162.
The strategy is a nice expression of 1990s bureaucratism: lots of objectives (complete with pastel dots that one contact cruelly describes as "so so 1992"), values, performance indicators and corporate speak (rigidities, structural inequalities, violence-supportive attitudes, strategic, alignment, societal structures ...). Corporate flummery doesn't matter if support for any victim of violence improves and if the state government eschews policy by media release in favour of substantive performance. A challenge facing all levels of the Victoria Police (and associated agencies) is turn the words into something meaningful, rather than a suite of mantras and tick-boxes.
The strategy reflects the whole of government A Right to Respect: Victoria’s Plan to Prevent Violence against Women 2010–2020 document [PDF]. That plan has a ten year range. It "sets out short, medium and long term measures to reduce levels of violence against women by challenging its underlying causes". The expectation is that A Right to Respect -
will influence social norms, promote community leadership and embed a much stronger culture of equal and respectful relationships between men and women.
