Family law
The 'joint custody' debate: Where to now?
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December 2003
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Abstract
The Parliamentary Inquiry into a legal presumption of 50:50 joint parenting after parental separation continues to generate intense debate. Continuing the Institute's interest and involvement in the debate, the author reports on a recent professional forum titled Joint Rebuttable Custody: In the Child's Best Interests? which was hosted jointly by the Australian Family Mediation Association and the new Roundtable Dispute Management unit at Victoria Legal Aid. She also refers to options formulated in a paper entitled 'Proposal for a New Process for Dealing with Post-Order Contact Disputes', produced by the Family Law Council in November 2003 in response to questions taken on notice from the Inquiry Committee. A summary is included which presents the core points in the Institute's submission to the Inquiry.
The Parliamentary Inquiry into a legal presumption of 50:50 joint parenting after parental separation continues to generate intense debate. Continuing the Institute's interest and involvement in the debate, the author reports on a recent professional forum titled Joint Rebuttable Custody: In the Child's Best Interests? which was hosted jointly by the Australian Family Mediation Association and the new Roundtable Dispute Management unit at Victoria Legal Aid. She also refers to options formulated in a paper entitled 'Proposal for a New Process for Dealing with Post-Order Contact Disputes', produced by the Family Law Council in November 2003 in response to questions taken on notice from the Inquiry Committee. A summary is included which presents the core points in the Institute's submission to the Inquiry.