Who is a child's legal parent? The question is at the heart of a case due before the High Court this year. It may have implications for children born via IVF or surrogacy, and the people who raise them.
A mother and daughter reunited after their separation in late May.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
The proposed merger of the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court is intended to address delays and inefficiencies in the system. Experts question, however, how effective the reforms will be.
Our research found that children place the most emphasis on issues such as having the Family Court process and the roles of key players explained to them, and on being heard.
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Until now, Australia was the only country that required youth with gender dysphoria to seek approval from the Family Court for the second stage of hormone treatments.
One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson, federal leader Pauline Hanson, and one of the party’s Queensland election candidates, Tracey Bell-Henselin.
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Daughters across the US feel like their relationship with their father was damaged by their parents' divorce. Here are steps daughters can take to repair that relationship.
Any reforms must move beyond a focus on administrative processes to acknowledge the lived experiences of child support which can be disguised by formal policy.
More than 70% of separated parents separate amicably, the data show.
AAP Image/April Fonti
Rae Kaspiew, Australian Institute of Family Studies
Separating couples who use the family law system generally have a positive experience - but for a troubled minority, there is still much work to be done.
Families going through breakdown need understanding, but so do lawmakers trying to find fair outcomes from complex laws.
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A Family Court "order" for parents of a child to not smoke around him and to limit their alcohol consumption while caring for him have invited the same old accusations about the "nanny state".
Family violence is core business in our courts and an ongoing drain on our economic and social well-being.
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We need to support those who are subjected to family violence – mostly women and children – and this must remain our priority. But we must also intervene at the source of the problem.
It seems there is an emerging cross-party consensus on the need to change the criminal law on child neglect in this country. The most recent manifestation of this new consensus are new proposals to criminalise…
The mother (centre) of the four young girls at the centre of a custody dispute arrives at court hearing in Brisbane.
AAP/Dan Peled
Last week’s Media Watch programme on the ABC discussed the role of the Australian media in the custody case of four Queensland children that has created headlines across the country over the past few months…