The adversarial nature of the Family Court has limited its capacity to articulate and respond to the changing roles and expectations of individual family members, in particular children, following parental separation, argues the author. Parental obligations to nurture and protect children have culminated in family law in the acceptance of the best interest of the child as the guiding principle in decision making about children. Children have gained much since this principle was formulated. But the principle is also capable of downgrading any sense of obligation to engage formally the child as an individual human being, or to go through a detailed process of ensuring his or her interests are fully represented. The approach of the United Nations Convention on The Rights of the Child to children's rights is discussed. A number of case studies are presented which raise questions about the legal and social assumptions we sometimes make about the participation rights of children, and about their status when there are apparently conflicting interests with respect to outcome. The rights of children to separate representation in family law proceedings is discussed. Finally, post-separation parenting arrangements are discussed in terms of gender equality.