The Family Law Act 1975 was introduced into law to deal with the breakdown of a marriage. Since the introduction of this act there have been a number of significant changes moving away from just dealing with the breakdown of the relationship to managing the family as a whole unit and how it (the breakdown of the relationship) has an impact on the family. As a result of these changes there have been a number of Father’s Rights Groups that have been growing rapidly in response to the family law system. They claim that the family law system is biased towards mothers being the primary carers and decision makers in a child’s life. However, The Family Law Amendment (Shared Responsibility) Act 2006, was since altered and enforced with the intent of …show more content…
The way the best interests of the child is determined is by ensuring that all decisions protect them from any harm and ensures the child has a meaningful relationship with both parents.
Dads in Distress and Men’s Rights Agency are among the groups that grew out of disconnect with the family law system. The organisations aim to support men who are going through separation from their partners and ultimately from their children. They perceive the family law system as corrupt as they rarely get custody or meaningful time with their children as mothers are predominately deemed the primary caregivers and decision makers in all issues relating to the child.
This is evident in the news article entitled Are family law courts biased against men? As Mr Kilmartin, a family lawyer confirms this. He states that “the family law system is very female-focussed and, frankly, unbalanced,”. In addition, he states that he has had countless male clients who feel as though they are depicted as the bad guy in the separation/shared-parenting process, and feel as though there is definitely an imbalance in family law proceedings, which support the claims of the men. Furthermore, Mr Kilmartin states that he is aware of the preconceived attitudes against males during divorce and custody negotiations and the “child attachment theory” which says that children prefer to be with their mothers as opposed to their fathers, which courts agree
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This shared parental responsibility is the presumption that both the mother and the father of the child have a role in making decisions about important long-term issues concerning the child. These are issues relating to school or major health concerns.
In addition, they would argue that the amendment provides flexible options that assist you after the breakdown of the relationship like parenting plans. A parenting plan is an agreement that is done by both parents of the child, which highlights the arrangements of the child, this plan is made without the involvement of the court. The amendment, however, provides yet another option if you and your partner cannot come to a consensus or you still believe that the system is unfair you can apply for a parenting order. These parenting orders are issued by the court and they set out arrangements for the
Good morning Minister of the Families I am Juliet and I will be your consultant for today. I will be outlining the aspects of the law of Domestic and family violence that has a flaw in society. I will be analysing the current laws, evaluating the effectiveness of the law, comparing these laws, making recommendations for changes in the law and justifying how the proposed changes adequately address the needs of the Australian society. Domestic violence is a violent or aggressive behaviour within the home, typically involving the violent of a spouse or partner. Domestic violence in Australia occurs in the privacy of people’s homes and it is mostly upon women that are disadvantaged.
Women are often invisible in the many angles of the correctional system, and this invisibility can act as a form of oppression. Most prisons and institutions are not specific to women’s needs. For example, mother and baby units are limited within the prison system. The UK government website reports that there are only seven prisons within the UK that provide this service. This service may be detrimental ...
This essay will first address the statute used and interpretation of the threshold test by the courts, and then focus on cases involving vulnerable children to assess whether the statute in The Children Act 1989 is sufficient in protecting these children from harm. I will look at the argument in favour of the current approach taken by the courts, and the counter-argument in favour of changing the current approach. The arguments are delicately balanced and the law is always developing, so it will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court resolves this issue in future.
Domestic violence is a terrible curse to all those involved. It inflicts harm on the victim, the perpetrator and witnesses, whether they be children or not. While support services have long been available to assist women and/or children overcome any issues that arise as a result of domestic violence, these services have left out a significant portion of victims, those that are male. In 2012 The Australian Bureau of Statistics found “That 33.3 per cent of victims of current partner violence during the last 12 months were male” (ABS, 2012) and “37.1 per cent of victims of emotional abuse by a partner during the last 12 months were male” (ABS, 2012). This shows the amount of victims that are being left behind by domestic violence support networks in their current state, despite their good intentions. For such a painful and difficult time it is not adequate to leave one third of those suffering behind.
The Family Law Act was first considered for change as the Government felt that the original act did not deal well with family violence, this led to a National Plan being developed to reduce violence against women and their children . This plan came from an enquiry conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2010 which produced a report that provided information on Family Violence and the legal response; this included a section within this report that informed the reader on 187 recommendations for possible future reforms of the Family Law Act . The report concluded to show the need for an Amendment for the Family Law Act through research that had been conducted around violence within the home showing that men and women exper...
A state that undertakes custody of a child is declaring that it can do a better job providing protection. This system is a powerful agent of support, providing positive nurturing environments that enable a child to reach his or her potential. Nonetheless, when children suffer additional abuse in the system, this government intervention should be questioned.
In this day and age there are many variations of what constitutes a couple or family in comparison to many years ago. Long ago the idea of a ‘nuclear family’ was considered the norm; it consisted of the conventional husband, wife and children . But as our society progressed through the years this definition became less conventional and criticisms were made, this definition of ‘family’ did not account for gay unions, soul parents nor did it acknowledge the prevalence of extended family. The definition of family has changed over time, as have the socially defined roles of mothers and fathers. Within these varied family units, situations occur in which divorces and separations take place and a lot of the times these tricky situations may involve children, which can make an already tricky situation even more problematic. There are pieces of legislation which are in place which aim to protect the best interests of a child during the time their parents are going through divorce but sometimes these avenues can be more problematic and ultimately destroy unions whereas other avenues of dispute resolution such as mediation, albeit with its own criticisms, helps to keep relationships afoot in that it provides an opportunity for peaceful and mutual agreements to be made in a more laid back environment.
...sed on what is best for the child or children involved. It should not be based on the sex of the parent, or who the judge may think would be the better parent because of biased opinions. The decision needs to be based on facts, and on the mental statuses of the parents involved. Which parent has the child best interest at heart? If it is the father, then grant him custody, if it is the mom, then give her custody, or if they are agreeable grant them joint custody. Do what is best for the child.
Families are becoming more diverse and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people consider families to be strictly biological, while others consider people they love to be their family. Although two-parent families, also known as a nuclear family are the majority, one-parent families are becoming more common in today’s society. A sole-parent is considered to be a parent without a partner or spouse who is the primary care giver of one or more children in a household (Ministry of Social Development, 2010). From the age of 14 onward I was raised by m...
Child custody evaluations cover multiple issues such as custody, maintenance, support, valuation, visitation, relocation, and termination of parental rights. There are multiple forms of custody that can result from a child custody evaluation. First is physical custody which is defined as “how much time a child spends with each parent, if the parents share physical custody” (Costanzo & Krauss, 2012). Another form of custody is legal custody, which gives a parent the authority to decide certain influential factors in the child’s life (Costanzo & Krauss, 2012). Joint legal custody is also an option. Another form of custody is sole custody which is defined as “one parent has legal and physical custody while the other typically has agreed upon some rights to visit the child at regular intervals” (Costanzo & Krauss, 2012). “Most custody decisions – about 90% - are made without resorting to litigation” (Costanzo & Krauss, 2012). “Estimates of actual custody arrangements in...
Coltrane, Scott, and Michele Adams. "The Social Construction of the Divorce "Problem": Morality, Child Victims, and the Politics of Gender." Family Relations 52.4 (2003): 363-72. Print.
However, domestic violence is not a new issue within our society. For centuries, women have been regarded as the property of men, offering them leeway in the enforcement of domestic abuse laws. Public opinion held that as heads of households, they had the right to discipline their wife and children as they saw fit. Eventually, women came to view this prevailing belief as truth. An inevitable outcome was their denial as victims at all. They simply saw it as the way it was and accepted it as such. Non-intervention has typically been the preferred method in regard to family matters. The long standing belief held that ‘what happened behind closed doors was no one’s business other than that family’s’ ruled the attitudes of society, the lega...
Family Law (Law Express) 2th edition, by Jonathon Herring, published by Pearson Education Limited 2009
The family is the main agent of socialisation and an institution. (Giddens, 2013:339). As children, we rely on our family to fulfil basic needs. We all need guidance, and more importantly we also require nurturing to become healthy adults. The definition of family varies across cultures. However, the family is sensitive to change and, therefore, not static. The structure of the family has changed, and culture and society are now more accepting of the fact that people now choose to cohabit, rather than marry. (Haralambos & Holborn 2009:3). In 2013, there were nearly 1.9 million lone parent households with dependent children in the United Kingdom; a figure which has steadily increased over the years (Office of National Statistics 2013). The rise in lone parents has brought about greater acceptance of pregnancies that do not have to involve marriage although acceptance is not the concern. A study suggests that….
Parental Responsibility and the law surrounding this fundamental concept has been at the forefront of much consideration since its enactment in the Children Act 1989. Although the 21st century has been subjected to significant changes in relation to family law, there is still much controversy surrounding the standing of the unmarried father and the rights and responsibilities obtainable to him when it comes to his child. The focus of the essay is to critically analyse the current law surrounding parental responsibility in particular it will include a detailed discussion on whether the law should be adapted to automatically allocate parental responsibility to all fathers irrespective of their marital status. The current law in England and Wales