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news & events april - june 2009
printversion & news archives 2004-2010
09 June 2009
The Age (Melbourne)
Legal aid centres struggling
A decade of inadequate funding means one in five disadvantaged people who
seek legal aid is turned away - a number expected to rise as the financial
crisis bites.
Read more
09 June 2009
The Australian
Court allows mums to take kids overseas
The Family Court is allowing mothers to leave their home state and even
the country to establish a new life for themselves and their children, despite
the introduction of a shared parenting law that encourages a meaningful
relationship with both parents.
Read more
09 June 2009
The Australian
Lives torn asunder
Most of what used to be called child custody cases are settled between
divorcing parents well before the case gets to the Family Court. Those
that aren't typically involve couples who loathe each other with such intensity
that they cannot agree on even the smallest matters regarding their
children.
Read more
06 June 2009
The Independent Weekly
Death sentence for Federal Magistrates Court
South Australian couples seeking a divorce or parenting orders may be tied
up for longer in court action with the planned abolition of the Federal
Magistrates Court.
Read more
03 June 2009
ABC Radio National
The World Today
Family law experts say 50-50 rule doesn't work
Family law experts are calling for the shared parenting law to
be scrapped or radically overhauled, saying that the 50-50 parenting rule
doesn't always work. The law was introduced by the Howard government in 2006 and put greater
emphasis on children spending equal time with both parents. But the head of the Family Law Council says this often gives fathers a
false expectation that they will be granted equal time, when this isn't
true for the majority of cases.
Read more
01 June 2009
The Australian
Divorced mums forced to stay put
New laws governing the custody of children are being used to prevent
mothers from moving even a short distance from the family home after a
divorce, according to experts in the field. Non-custodial parents - usually fathers - are able to use the laws to claim that such a move will deny their children the right to spend "substantial
and significant time" with both parents, as required by the new law.
Read more
30 May 2009
The Australian
Agony of children at divorce has clout
The Family Court has at last recognised the "agony" children suffer during
divorce by forcing their warring parents to live close to each other, says
a campaigner for the reform introduced by the Howard government.
Read more
29 May 2009
The Australian
Parent law ties women to men
Wives who follow their husbands to remote corners of Australia in search of
work may find themselves stuck in their new home town, unable to leave with
the children.
Read more
27 May 2009
Alby Schultz
Adjournment - Lone Fathers Association of Australia
Audience: Hansard
Mr SCHULTZ (Hume) (7:49 PM) I rise to speak in support of the Lone Fathers
Association of Australia and on this government s failure to recognise the
importance of the support that LFAA provides to a significant minority
group, namely lone fathers and male victims of domestic violence.
Read more
26 May 2009
The Boston Globe
Single mothers and the baby boom
In the past 10 years, with my biological clock winding down and no husband
in sight, I have been asked quite a few times if I had considered having a
child on my own. What used to be scandalous is now practically a
conventional life choice. This is borne out by a new report released recently by the National Center
for Health Statistics. Nearly 40 percent of all babies born in the United
States in 2007, up from 34 percent in 2002 and 18 percent in 1980, were
born to unmarried women.
Read more
25 May 2009
Australasian Men's Health Forum
MEDIA RELEASE
Lack of paid paternity leave 'disappointing'
Australia's peak body for men and boys has congratulated the Federal Government for introducing the nation's first Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Scheme in this month's Federal Budget, but has raised a number of concerns about the scheme.
Read more
22 May 2009
Men's News Daily
A Woman's Answer to All those Maternal Gatekeepers
I've written a fair amount about maternal gatekeeping - the habit some
mothers have of excluding their children's father from childcare. I've
written about the studies that have reported on the behavior, and examples
of maternal gatekeeping as simple as denigrating Dad's efforts at
childcare, as extreme as mothers kidnapping children, and as violent as
having the father murdered in front of the child.
Read more
19 May 2009
The Daily Telegraph
Duped dad wins custody of boy in historic Family Court decision
A MAN who discovered in a custody hearing he was not his son's biological father has made legal history. Duped dads usually ask the Family Court to make amends for the years they brought up children which were not theirs - but not this 53-year-old real estate agent. He loves the five-year-old boy and won his appeal against granting custody to his ex-wife, 46, in what the court said was a unique situation Parliament never considered when drawing up the laws.
Read more
13 May 2009
Shared Parenting Council of Australia
Media Release
Abolishing the Federal Magistrates Court is "foolhardy and stupid"
The Shared Parenting Council of Australia (SPCA) fully supports the position adopted by the Federal Opposition as outlined by Senator the Hon. George Brandis SC, Shadow Attorney-General in his speech delivered in the Senate today (13-May-2009) in which he calls the Rudd Government s decision to abolish the Federal Magistrates Court a grave mistake .
Read more
10 May 2009
Sydney Morning Herald
Solo parents face hit in budget
Federal Labor's feelgood budget centrepiece of multi-billion-dollar
pension boosts is headed for strife if the Government ignores single parents in
Tuesday's budget.
Read more
10 May 2009
Sydney Morning Herald
Rise and rise of single-child family is sign of the times
Single-child households are fast becoming the nuclear family for the 21st
century. In 2006, 13 per cent of Australian women aged 40-44 had just one child,
according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and that figure is
growing.
Read more
08 May 2009
The Age (Melbourne)
One stop for parental claims after separation
Rules that force some separated parents to pay too much in child support
or claim too little in family payments will be overhauled in Tuesday's
budget.
Read more
08 May 2009
Minister for Human Services
Senator Joe Ludwig
Media Release
Resignation of Child Support Agency General Manager
The General Manager of the Child Support Agency, Matt Miller, will
step down from his position today. Mr Miller has accepted a position as the new Executive Director of the
Australian Sports Commission (ASC).
Read more
04 - 07 May 2009
Dads in Distress
Child Support Community Information Evenings
Dads in Distress, in association with the Child Support Agency, are conducting a series of information nights throughout NSW.
Read more
06 May 2009
Lone Fathers Association (Australia)
Press statement
Laying myths about shared parenting
Commentators such as Jennifer McIntosh, Barbara Biggs, and ex-Family Court Chief Justice Alistair Nicholson have again been attacking fathers whose only fault is to wish to share the care of their much-loved children after a marriage or relationship has broken down.
Read more
05 May 2009
Southern Cross University
Media Release
Leisure is a vital ingredient for fatherhood
Taking time out to play in the sand, read a few stories, play board games or have a game of backyard cricket could be some of the best ways for non-resident fathers to establish a positive relationship with their children says Southern Cross University academic Professor John Jenkins.
Read more
05 May 2009
The Australian
Court defended over bridge death
The Family Court cannot be held responsible for the death of a
four-year-old girl thrown from the Westgate Bridge, says Chief Justice
Diana Bryant. In an unusual move just weeks before the accused man faces court on a
murder charge, Chief Justice Bryant has moved to defend the role of the
Family Court, saying it had only a peripheral role in the drama.
Read more
04 May 2009
The Sydney Morning Herald
Anger at law that fails children
The names of 22 children killed by their fathers on access visits hung
from a makeshift clothesline in a city park yesterday as more than 100 women
and some men gathered to vent their anger at the Family Court of Australia and
the law it must enforce.
Read more
04 May 2009
The Age (Melbourne)
Push is on to review family law
A national campaign against family violence has called for urgent changes
to the Family Law Act to protect children from violence by fathers during
court-imposed access visits.
Read more
03 May 2009
Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne)
The Chief Justice of the Family Court has a battle on her hands
Chief Justice Diana Bryant is a judge caught in a crossfire.
The battleground is not the sordid, blood-soaked trial of a gangland
criminal. It is the far more thorny, emotive and mercurial landscape of Chief Justice Bryant, Australia's top Family Court judge, has found
herself in the middle of a civil war between community groups over changes to the
Family Law Act.
Read more
03 May 2009
Sydney Morning Herald
Staying at home gives power back to victims
A growing Government scheme is breaking the hold of domestic violence
offenders, writes Lisa Carty. Just when you lose all faith in government and the bureaucracy to do
anything useful, along comes Mary.
Read more
02 May 2009
Shared Parenting Council of Australia
Media Release
Family Law Court 'Soft' on Justice
Recent media reports that the Chief Justice of the Family Court, Diana
Bryant, has called upon the Attorney-General to give "urgent
consideration" to repealing one of the most fundamental protections in
the recent Family Law Act amendments is almost without precedent and a
recipe for wholesale failure in the integrity and operation of the Family
Court System.
Read more
02 May 2009
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
For the sake of the children
Divorced and separated fathers get a greater share of child care, but
this has not always benefited offspring, writes Adele Horin.
Read more
02 May 2009
Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada)
World Press Freedom Day - Public scrutiny in family courts
If Canadians could cram en masse into the bitter courtrooms where child-custody disputes play out, there might be fewer nasty divorces. Since they can't, they should be allowed to read about them, which is why an Ontario judge was right to reject a request from the provincial Office of the Children's Lawyer for a gag order on the lawyers and family members in a notorious case of "parental alienation syndrome." A cautionary tale that no one can hear is not much good to anyone.
Read more
29 April 2009
The Australian
National register to track domestic violence orders
A national register of domestic and family violence orders is the
centrepiece of the Rudd Government's plan to reduce violence against
women, to be unveiled today. The national register will allow orders to be enforced across state and
territory borders.
Read more
29 April 2009
PRIME MINISTER
ATTORNEY GENERAL
MINISTER FOR THE STATUS OF WOMEN
TIME FOR ACTION TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN
The Australian Government today released Time for Action, the major report of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.
Read more
28 April 2009
ABC > Radio > PM
Impacts of financial crisis on marriage and relationships
The financial crisis is placing intense pressure on relationships, but
due to a lack of funds, many couples can't afford to separate. Some
experts are predicting it will lead to a spike in divorce when the
financial crisis eases.
Read more
25 April 2009
The Daily Telegraph
Single dads spend more on takeaway then books, education
Single dads spend more on takeaway food and less on books and education
than single mums, new research shows.
Read more
22 April 2009
ATTORNEY-GENERAL ROBERT McCLELLAND MP
JOINT DOORSTOP WITH JENNY MACKLIN
Subject: Family Relationship Services; Income Management; Stimulus Package
The Attorney and I are very pleased to be announcing that we will be
investing $100 million over the next two years into family relationship
services. And if I can just say how much we appreciate the terrific work
that is being done by family relationship services around Australia.
Read more
22 April 2009
JENNY MACKLIN MP
Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
ROBERT MCCLELLAND MP
Attorney-General
$100 MILLION FOR FAMILY RELATIONSHIP SERVICES
Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs,
Jenny Macklin, and Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, today announced
the Government would invest more than $100 million over the next two years to
assist families deal with relationship difficulties.
Read more
21 April 2009
Herald Sun (Melbourne)
Kids must come first
I have a dear friend who is going through what can only be described as a
very ugly divorce. She has two young children, her estranged husband is in a different city
and the splitting of the couple's joint assets has ended up in a
fortune-threatening family court battle.
Read more
13 April 2009
The Australian
Virtual parenting adequate, says court
The Family Court is allowing mothers to leave the country with their
children, provided they agree to sign up for the internet-based video
telephone service Skype.
Read more
07 April 2009
The Sydney Morning Herald
Australian father's kidnap rescue embarrasses Swedish police
AAP - A Melbourne father's speedy rescue of his two kidnapped sons has
embarrassed Swedish police, who struggled with the case for six
months.
Read more
05 April 2009
The Sunday Times (Perth)
Shame of the battered husband
Men are being stabbed, punched and scalded with hot food and water by
abusive partners, the first study of its kind in WA confirmed.
Read more
03 April 2009
The Australian
Woman divorces husband for cleaning too much
Reuters - A German woman has divorced her husband because she was fed up
with him cleaning all the time.
Read more
03 April 2009
The Toronto Star
Children harmed by sole custody, report says
Canadian judges rarely use voluntary arrangements in which kids live with
each parent roughly equally. Family court judges are misguidedly harming children by granting sole
custody to one parent - usually the mother - in bitter divorce battles,
says a comprehensive new report.
Read more
03 April 2009
The Age (Melbourne)
Boys found in Sweden
Two Melbourne boys who were abducted by their Swedish mother and have been
missing for six months have been found safe in Sweden.
Read more
01 April 2009
The Australian
Fathers praise access law
The Family Court has undergone a radical change in direction since the
Howard government's changes to the Family Law Act came into effect, and
the emphasis is now firmly on the rights of fathers to have relationships with
their children after separation and divorce.
Read more
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