The Shared Parenting Disaster: Australia's Family Court Money Trail

If you have ever accessed the court as a survivor of violence or a protective parent, you'll know what I mean when I say that they lick their lips at the sight of money. Getting the child to the abuser is like hitting the jackpot as they know this will lock in the family courts financial future. Lets face it, dead beat dads are bad for them as they know that they will give up when they have had their rampage against the ex. Protective parents will keep litigating until they have lost everything.

An urban legend is spreading through Australia about the Federal Magistrates court having wild parties, snorting cocaine amongst other cocktails of indulgence to eliminate the pain of compassion and humanity at is worst. It is called the "Debauchery house" and as the legend goes, a lawyer who saw what they were doing and wrote about it in a book. Just before he published it, he was called in for a meeting with a warning that he would be disbarred if he were to proceed and even when he altered it to fiction he was . It might explain the recent reports of judges not even bothering to read the evidence, presenting disheveled in attire and requesting its litigants to "speak in simple terms'. If this "urban legend" is true, we ask you to come forth. We want names, we want any footage that you have acquired and any other evidence you have. It is about time a change of culture occurred in the court, whether or not this urban legend is true. We have a way of releasing this information without being affected by Australian Law and its treaties.

It is about time victims of violence and child abuse receive true justice. its about time that the lies and propaganda that surrounds a deep lack of transparency is exposed. True justice has no place for those who seek to be, "above the law". So lets begin with the information that has already been revealed. There is a 5 million dollar black hole in the Federal Magistrates budget. $60,000 of that was spent on fine bone china. According tot he australian , the 5 million dollar black hole was associated with 16 magistrates.

The minimum fees that are charged between the two courts appear significantly different by a couple of hundred dollars. At the Family Court, it is $1905 which includes initial application, final order application and two hearings. This does not include the costs to file affidavits and other forms not mentioned in the fees and charges section. In the Federal Magistrates court it costs $1367 for the same set of fees. An average lawyer will cost you $3000 per hearing plus expenses for the time spent advising you and preparing the forms. In February 2009, submissions for the access to justice inquiry was closed and leading up to that date, there were mainly internal submissions or input from liaising organizations. Just before the deadline closed, Child concern Australia and a few other organizations supporting women and children submitted their concerns on the access to justice and thoughts about the proposed changes. Prior to this, media releases were on plans to axe the Family Court and divert its traffic to the Federal Magistrates. This would have been a negative outcome for children and women affected by family violence. The reason why the federal magistrates are so cheap is that they are for short court cases where everything is rushed through and family violence is ignored as a result of its processes. Its actually a batterers paradise , where there is no time for him to be investigated, no time to delve into the history and an enormous pressure place upon the mother to give in to what may come of it including her or her children's life. Just rush through, threaten severe consequences if she does not obey her ex husband and "cha ching" get as much money out of it as possible. At the very beginning, they pretend that they are going to look into family violence, but really its about gathering as much information from you so that you will become silent. Snatching evidence must be part of the training as the reports of this is widespread. They don't tell you this to begin with as it will ruin the "surprise" and most importantly those initial filing costs. You must file relatively early for a final order, so this is also part of it. Getting as many people through the doors is how the money reaches maximum income. The very reason why the SPCA is supporting the Federal Magistrates Court is that it will reduce the visibility of victims and support the notion of false allegations which is a common reference to "unsubstantiated". With haste and a drive to put as many couples in and out of this court system as quickly as possible, victims are invisible and their perpetrators have less time to keep the "charm" going without being found out. With this system it is virtually impossible to substantiate allegations. Once the final orders are rushed through to the end, a litigant cannot apply for three years.

Stay tuned for more on Australia's Family Court Money Trail