Newspaper Articles
Herald Sun, November 11, 2010
THE Gillard Government has
unveiled radical changes to family law that redefine domestic violence, place
greater weight on child safety and could weaken the Howard government's shared
parenting laws.
The changes, which are directed at cases involving abusive parents, elevate the
safety of children to the top priority in custody disputes.
Whenever a court considers that this goal is in conflict with the right of a
child to have a relationship with both parents, it will be required to give
greater weight to child safety.
The change is contained in draft legislation released for discussion yesterday
by Attorney-General Robert McClelland.
The proposed changes to the Family Law Act come after Labor MPs, particularly
women, raised concerns that the Howard Government laws had gone too far and were
hurting vulnerable children. Read More …
The Australian, 11 November 2010, By Chris Merritt and Patricia Karvelas
The Gillard government has unveiled radical changes to family law.
The changes would redefine domestic violence, place greater weight on
child safety and could weaken the Howard government's shared parenting laws.
The changes, which are directed at cases involving abusive parents,
elevate the safety of children to the top priority in custody disputes.
Whenever a court considers that this goal is in conflict with the right
of a child to have a relationship with both parents, it will be required to
give greater weight to child safety.
The change is contained in draft legislation released for discussion
yesterday by Attorney-General Robert McClelland.
Read More …
Australian Broadcasting Corporation ( ABC), 29 December 2003
Parents' groups and welfare organisations are welcoming most of the findings from a federal parliamentary inquiry into child custody arrangements.
The joint parliamentary committee is recommending a major shake-up of the
nation's child custody system, including significant changes to family law,
courts and custody support payments.
In particular, the committee recommends a presumption of equal
responsibility for children when a family breaks down, but has shied away
from legislating it. Read More …
ABC Radio Australia News, 30 December 2003
Australia's Minister for Children, Larry Anthony, says the government will
seriously consider all the recommendations in the parliamentary report
recommending a Families Tribunal to deal with child custody issues in a
marriage break-up.
Mr Anthony says the government has already acknowledged that the current
system needs to be improved.
But the Minister adds establishing a Families Tribunal will take time. Read More …
Illawarra Mercury, Australia, by Michele Tydd, December 18, 2010. Section: News, Page: 5
AN Austinmer father says he is angry and bewildered by a judge's
comments to brand him a sook for going to police after his former
partner assaulted him in front of their eight-year-old son.
Judge Paul Conlon upheld Tanya Austin's appeal over a lower court
conviction for the assault and said police should have told Martin
Mondzheyovsky to "man up".
"What really concerns me is the way the judge trivialised a clear-cut
case of domestic violence and belittled me for reporting the assault,"
Mr Mondzheyovsky said yesterday.
"I'm a law-abiding citizen and believe in women's rights, but I also
believe men are entitled to the same protection when it comes to this
sort of thing." Read More …
Illawarra Mercury, Australia, by Bree Fuller By BREE FULLE, Section: NewsPage: 4
A STRUGGLING single mum who hit her ex with a plastic bottle after he
bragged to her about his surfing holiday, while paying her minimal child
support, has been vindicated in court.
Office manager Tanya Austin was "at breaking point" when she lashed out
and threw a plastic bottle at the face of her ex-partner on September
26. Read More …
Herald Sun (Melbourne), by Phillip Hudson, 29 January 2010
Separated fathers could find it harder to secure 50-50 custody of their
children, and women should be more easily able to raise concerns about
violence, under proposed changes to the nation's custody laws.
The Family Court may also be asked to apply a new "triage" system to
more quickly assess urgent risks relating to violence, relocation,
substance abuse or mental-health issues.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Government was
considering the suggestions after he released three reports, which
looked at hot-button family-law issues such as shared parenting and
violence.
Three years ago the Howard government introduced shared parenting rules,
which required the Family Court to set arrangements where both parents
could be involved in their children's lives after a divorce.
Read More …
The Australian, by Caroline Overington, 29 January 2010
Men's rights groups will fight any planned rollback of the shared
parenting laws, saying reports released yesterday prove an overwhelming
majority of Australians support the right of children to know both their
parents after divorce. Read More …
THE WASHINGTON TIMES, October 1999, By Julia Duin
Feminism has latched onto sexual-harassment laws as a successful way of bringing men to heel, says a University of Massachusetts professor and sometime feminist in a new book.
In "Heterophobia," Daphne Patai says that sexual-harassment law, once a useful tool to identify outrageous behavior, is now an albatross.
"Sexual harassment seems often to be little more than a label for excoriating men," she writes. "It has become the synecdoche for general male awfulness."
University students are schooled in "the patriarchy" and "compulsory heterosexualism," she says, and schools, such as her own, hire "sexual-harassment consultants" to help them avoid lawsuits. One of her footnotes details how one firm charged her school rates of $1,250 to $1,800 per trainer per day, plus $10,000 for hotel, travel and meals, to offer courses in sexual-harassment prevention and risk management.
Read More …
ABC News Online, 29 December 2003
A federal parliamentary inquiry has recommended a wide-ranging shake-up of Australia's family law, including an overhaul of child custody payments.
The House of Representatives Family and Community Affairs Committee has
recommended that in family breakdown situations, a 50-50 share of a
child's custody should be the "standard objective" but says that aim
should not be enshrined in law.
Prime Minister John Howard set up the joint parliamentary committee in June, asking it to investigate Australia's child custody system and "in
particular, whether there should be a presumption that children will spend equal time with each parent and if so, in what circumstances such a
presumption could be rebutted".
"We have concluded that the goal for the majority of families should be one of equality of care and responsibility, along with substantially shared parenting time," the report says. "They should start with an
expectation of equal care. Read More …
Dads On The Air - May 12, 2003 Sydney 2GLF FM 89.3 9am-12.00
This week it's impossible to ignore the efforts of one of the country's leading broadcasters, Alan Jones at 2GB.
The number one breakfast show host has taken up the plight of non-custodial parents and child support payers with a vengeance, describing the situation as a "social scandal".
As a result he has been swamped with hundreds upon hundreds of emails.
He says he has never had a response like it on any issue after raising it on his radio show and on television at the Today Show. Read More …
Sydney Morning Herald, March 29 2003, By Leonie Lamont
During an interstate access visit, and a trip to the Melbourne Show,
Bill told his 14-year-old son he was going to take him for an allergy
test.
The test was in reality a DNA parentage test, to establish the
likelihood of Bill being the boy's biological father. The fallout is set
to force the Federal Government to amend the Family Law Act so that men
who prove they are not the biological fathers can recover child
maintenance payments.
Read More …
The Advertiser (Adelaide), 30 December 2003, By Maria Moscaritolo in Canberra
Separated parents would share equal responsibility for their children's upbringing under a proposed overhaul of the family law system which recommends sidelining the involvement of the Family Court.
A federal parliamentary committee report into child custody yesterday rejected forcing equal joint residency on separated parents but said shared care should be the starting point for custody negotiations.
"Shared parental responsibility does not necessarily mean equal time in residence," Kay Hull, chair of the House of Representatives Family and Community Affairs Committee, said.
"Each parent should start with an expectation of equal care and should have equal say as to where children should reside."
Read More …