Views of adolescents in separated families

A study of adolescents' experiences after the 2006 reforms to the family law system

Content type
Commissioned report
Published

December 2010

Researchers

Jodie Lodge, Michael Alexander

Commissioning Body

Attorney-General's Department

A report commissioned by the Attorney-General's Department as part of the Longitudinal Study of Separated Families.

This report explores young people's experiences of family relationships, living arrangements, and adjustment after separation. Interviews were conducted in 2009 with 623 young people aged 12-18, whose parents had separated between 2006 and 2008. The study examined living arrangements, changes in care-time arrangements, involvement in decision making, sources of support, stepfamilies and grandparents, financial support and hardship, family violence and conflict, quality of relationships, and the effects on young people's wellbeing. The Longitudinal Study of Separated Families is part of the evaluation of the 2006 Family Law reforms. These reforms aimed to promote more cooperative parenting after separation and incorporate the views and feelings of children in custody arrangements.

This report was authored by AIFS staff and published by the Attorney-General's Department.

Share