Separated Parents waiting months to see their children
SEPARATED parents ordered by a court to have visits to their children supervised are in some cases waiting months to see them because of a lack of government-funded contact centres.
Parents in some rural areas have to travel long distances to see their children under supervision because there is no contact centre nearby.
A family law court will order supervised access in cases where children are considered to be at risk if they see their mother or father alone. This can include cases where there is concern about family violence, serious mental illness or drug and alcohol abuse. In these cases, a court can order that a parent see a child – usually once a fortnight for about two hours – supervised by workers.
Read more…Separated Parents waiting months to see their children – Wheretofindpedia
The Financial Costs of Divorce
DIVORCE has a major financial impact, and it doesn’t matter who paid for what when you separate assets.
Everything is considered part of the matrimonial pool: superannuation, your prized golf clubs, even cutlery inherited from your grandmother are up for grabs.
Latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows there are about 47,000 divorces granted each year in Australia, and that doesn’t include break-ups among defacto couples. Between a third and a half of all marriages end in divorce.
Getting the divorce itself costs very little. There are divorce kits available free at the courts. They are relatively easy to complete so you may not even need a lawyer.
What is expensive is going to court to resolve parenting and property settlement disputes.
Read more…The Financial Costs of Divorce – Wheretofindpedia
Change to the legal definition of violence
January 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Family Law News
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A REPORT on family law recommends a change to the legal definition of violence to encompass behaviour that is “economically abusive”, threatening or coercive.
The report, by the Family Law Council, says changes made to the Family Law Act (1975) by the Howard government narrowed the definition of violence and was “conservative in its drafting”.
The review was one of three reports released this week on family law, one of which warned that women and children were at a greater risk of violence, The Australian reports.
The Family Law Council report said the definition of violence in the act was in “some ways reminiscent of the common law definition of assault”.
“It is questionable whether it encompasses the debilitating psychological abuse by controlling conduct,” the report says.
It argues that the definition of family violence should be amended to encompass behaviour that is not only physically or sexually abusive, but also economically abusive, threatening, coercive, “or in any other way controls or dominates” the other party.
Read more…Change to the legal definition of violence – Wheretofindpedia