FDR and family counselling confidentiality
22.14 Sections 10D and 10H of the Family Law Act impose confidentiality obligations on family counsellors and FDR practitioners respectively. These persons must maintain the confidentiality of all communications made to them except in limited situations. First, communications may be disclosed with the consent of the person who made the communication or, if the person …
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Read moreFamily Dispute Resolution
21.9 This chapter considers the role of FDR in resolving family law disputes—in particular parenting disputes—and the interaction between FDR processes under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and family violence.21.10 The use of FDR in the context of family violence presents complex challenges. In addition to significant concern about the safety of participants engaging …
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Read moreScreening and risk assessment practices
21.51 A key element of FDR in practice is the process of screening and risk assessment, which is designed to ensure that victims of family violence are not using FDR in inappropriate circumstances, or to identify and mitigate any risk factors where FDR may be appropriate despite family violence or other risks.[90] Two issues arise …
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Read moreProtection orders and children—the current legal framework
20.106 In practice, family violence protection orders for the protection of children are usually obtained in a magistrates court. Most commonly, children are named as protected persons on applications for family violence orders made to protect a parent, although they may also be sought directly in the child’s own right. In some jurisdictions, family violence …
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Read moreChild protection and juvenile justice
20.154 There is a strong correlation between juvenile participation in crime and rates of reported neglect or abuse,[189] and, in particular, between juvenile involvement in criminal activity and neglectful parenting.[190] Research indicates that an offending child or young person is likely to have a history of abuse or neglect,[191] and to have been in out-of-home …
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Read moreIntroduction
20.1 The interaction of state and territory child protection laws with a range of other state and territory laws is one of the areas under consideration in this Inquiry.[1] This chapter focuses on the intersections between child protection law, the criminal law and the law relating to family violence protection orders, and considers ways to …
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Read moreCriminal offences relating to child protection
20.6 Parents, caregivers and those with parental responsibility have a duty, at law, to provide children in their care with the ‘necessities of life’, which includes providing financial support, food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare and access to education.[6] The duty normally extends to children up to the age of 16 years, but may apply to older …
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Read moreThe power of children’s courts to make parenting orders
19.101 Some cases start in the child protection context, but are later referred to family courts. A child protection agency may investigate reported abuse or neglect and, during the course of that investigation, identify a viable and protective carer for the child. This may happen before or after proceedings are commenced in a children’s court. …
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Read moreFamilies in both courts—duplication of proceedings
19.146 The possibility that proceedings will be duplicated also arises in child protection cases. For example, proceedings may be commenced in a children’s court by a child protection agency but, whilst those proceedings are in train, a parent who wishes to spend time with her or his children, will make an application to a family …
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Read moreLegal intervention in child protection
19.20 This section of the chapter considers the development of state intervention in relation to children in need of care and protection, from the parens patriae jurisdiction to legislative schemes involving the establishment of specialist children’s courts and, among other things, defining thresholds for state intervention. The chapter also considers the procedure for triggering state …
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