Kids are at the heart of many family law disputes. The “best interests of the child” are enshrined in our family law legislation as the paramount consideration when making parenting arrangements.
Over the past decade, there’s been much debate about whether or not our family law system really listens to how children feel about arrangements that are made for their care. How well are children’s voices heard in family law matters that affect them?
And there’s consensus that reform is needed to how our family law system operates, in order to produce better outcomes for children. The only real question now is: how will change be practically achieved?
When the recent spate of Government family law inquiries was completed, various recommendations and official responses were made on many different aspects of the family law system, including the subject of children’s participation.
Several recommendations on this were made for the Government to consider, and in turn, in its responses the Government flagged the intention to bring about reform in this area, but cited the need for more research to guide policy.