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Media Release

April 9 2008

Shared parenting - is it fair for the 50/50 kids?

It has been two years since the Family Law Act was altered to promote the notion that children should have the chance to spend equal time with each of their parents.

Just how that is working for families and especially the children themselves, will be the focus of the Shared parental responsibility in Australian family law and the impact on children seminar being hosted by UniSA’s Hawke Research Institute Centre for Peace and Mediation.

The two-day seminar brings together some of Australia’s leading child and family law experts, sociologists, psychologists, paediatricians and educators to discuss the current theories, research, practice wisdom and parental experiences in relation to shared parenting and associated decision making after separation and divorce.

UniSA’s conference convenors Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw and Dr Alan Campbell say the seminar hopes to explore how the changes are affecting children including those who have been or are at risk of being exposed to high level parental conflict, violence and child abuse.

“The 2006 amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 promote shared parental responsibility and due consideration of a child spending equal, or at least substantial time with both parents, unless there are issues of family violence or child abuse,” Prof Bagshaw says.

“The changes also require there to be ’reasonable’ evidence for any statements made about family violence, which is often hard to prove.

“These changes are having many impacts on decision-making about families, particularly for the children involved. The law states that the best interests of the child must be paramount, but we want to explore whether this is what is happening in practice,” Prof Bagshaw says.

“There is little guidance as to what ‘best interests’ means and there are concerns in the field that the increased emphasis on shared parenting may be placing the needs of parents over the needs and welfare of some children, in particular where there is family violence and child abuse.

“What needs to be explored and debated is whether the changes to the Family Law Act are benefiting children – who are extremely vulnerable when their parents are separating, in particular where there is parental conflict and abuse,” she says.

Keynote speakers at the seminar include the Honourable Deputy Chief Justice Faulks from the Family Court of Australia, Professor Emeritus Carol Bruch from the School of Law, University of California, Professor Thea Brown from the Department of Social Work at Monash University and Professor Belinda Fehlberg from the School of Law, University of Melbourne.

Prof Bagshaw is optimistic that bringing such a group of experts in the field together will prove fruitful in raising awareness about some of the issues and proposing some possible solutions.

“It’s already clear that we need a multi-faceted approach to better understand what is meant by good quality parenting and how this relates to shared parenting and the best interests of the child,” she says.

“The important outcome from the seminar will be suggesting ways to reshape policies and practices to focus on the children and what really is best for them.”

Seminar details: ‘Shared parental responsibility in Australian family law and the impact on children.’

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