The Abuse Free Contact Campaign was established because of concerns about the inadequacies of the Family Court system in protecting women and children from ongoing domestic violence and child abuse.
There are serious gaps in child protection in Family Law as identified by the Family Court Magellan Project and the Family Law Council. This includes problems in the relationship between Family Court and State Welfare system.
It has been identified that currently within the Court there exists a presumption of contact, and at interim hearings contact is almost always ordered. Often this is because there is limited time available to produce evidence of domestic violence and child abuse. Once an interim order for contact is made a status quo of contact is established and it is more difficult to have contact stopped at a later stage in Family Court proceedings.
The absence of
adequate legal aid for family law, particularly for cases involving allegations
of violence There are problems in women being refused legal aid or legal
aid funding is limited and runs out before the finalisation of the case.
1) A change to the
Family Law Act to prioritise the safety of children and women escaping
violence/abuse as the threshold determinant of a child's best interests in cases
involving allegations of violence.
2) The introduction
of a rebuttable presumption of no contact where there are allegations of
violence established on the balance probabilities (similar to the NZ
Guardianship Act). Persons found on the basis of civil proof to have used
violence would have to show why they were safe before contact was allowed.
3) Adequate federal
funds to be given to the relevant agencies to implement Project Magellan across
the nation and to implement the recommendations of the Family Law Council 2002
on Child Protection.
4) The scrapping of
any proposal of presumption of shared parenting post separation.
5) An increase in
legal aid funding where there are allegations of domestic violence and/or child
abuse.
6) The development of support groups for women involved in
the Family Court system and referral points for women.
For more information please contact the National Council
for Single Mothers and their Children Inc. on 8226 2505.
This campaign is auspiced by the Australian Coalition of Women Against Violence.
'The Abuse Free Contact Campaign' is a national campaign by a coalition of interested groups, individuals and organisations to address the problems arising for separated mothers when their children have to have contact with an abusing father.
The campaign aims to improve family court and child protection processes to promote and sustain children's safety from violence after separation. This page includes information and referral resources. If you wish to document and submit your experiences of this issue, please email your story to ncsmc@ncsmc.org.au
Information / Resources
1. information papers and submissions
2. personal accounts and contributions
4. back to ncsmc