Australias Spotlight on Family Law and Safety Holes

Australian media has broken the silence on some of the untold views on the holes in child custody laws.  Its too ideal and nice to simply wish that these tragedies do not exist and that we can all simply, "sweep it under the carpet" and perhaps pray that "shared parenting" will somehow conceal the blood stains that are beginning to show in one of the greatest crisis's children and women are enduring today. 

Xue 'singled out for murder potential'

Tamara McLean

July 27, 2009 - 9:29AM

The Chinese man who killed his wife and dumped his child in Melbourne had been singled out as a potential killer a year before he murdered.

New Zealand family courts are in the spotlight after it was revealed police had warned that martial arts expert Nai Yin Xue would kill his wife if released on bail over a 2006 conviction.

Chief Justice questions parenting laws

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Michael Pelly | July 27, 2009

Article from:  The Australian

FAMILY Court Chief Justice Diana Bryant has described the contentious shared parenting laws as "problematic" and the expectation of parties as "a concern" as the government embarks on three inquiries into family violence.

The Chief Justice also says punitive costs orders for those who raise false allegations of violence have been counter-productive and that women fear being branded "unfriendly".

Her comments yesterday followed the announcement on Friday that former Family Court judge Richard Chisholm will head a review of the entire family law system, with an emphasis on how it handles violent situations.

The Australian Law Reform Commission has also been asked to develop a national legal framework to tackle family violence and the Institute of Family Studies is due to deliver its reviewing of the shared parenting laws in December.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has cited the case of three-year-old Darcey Freeman, who was thrown from Melbourne's Westgate Bridge by her father in January, as a reason for the review. There has been considerable disquiet over the Freeman case inside the Rudd government. Leading the charge has been Housing and Status of Women Minister Tanya Plibersek, former shadow attorney-general and Minister for Health Nicola Roxon and the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin.

Chief Justice Bryant said "nothing was raised before the court about violence".

She said there were many ways to bring concerns of violence to the attention of the court. "A Form 4 (which gives notice of child abuse or family violence) was not filed and there was nothing on the file to suggest one had tried to be filed."

The Chief Justice said the shared parenting provisions of the act -- section 65DAA and 61DA -- were "problematic".

Appeal for national strategy on family violence

Carol Nader

July 27, 2009

STATE Attorney-General Rob Hulls has urged other states to follow Victoria's lead in expanding the definition of domestic violence and has backed a national register of intervention orders.

The call comes as former Family Court judge Richard Chisholm prepares to conduct a review that will consider the way the Family Court responds to allegations of domestic violence.

Mr Hulls told The Age that the definition of domestic violence should be expanded to include economic, psychological and emotional abuse if a truly national approach was to be adopted.

"I think family violence can take a whole range of forms and I think other states need to follow what we've done in Victoria by ensuring they have a comprehensive definition of domestic violence," he said.

"If a person is abused emotionally and psychologically in one jurisdiction they should be dealt with in the same way if such abuse occurs in another jurisdiction."

He also backed the move to a national register of intervention orders, a subject that will be discussed next month at a meeting of the country's attorneys-general.

"It's absolutely important that we have a national system to recognise intervention orders that have been imposed in each jurisdiction, and we do that in Victoria," Mr Hulls said.

"A corresponding family violence intervention order from another state or territory or indeed New Zealand can be registered with a Victorian court. That order is then enforced as a Victorian order.

"The idea of a national register of family violence intervention orders is something that I fully support. I think we have to make it as easy and as simple as possible for victims of family violence who have been granted an intervention order to have that intervention order enforced anywhere in Australia."

The contentious question of whether there is any link between the presumption of shared parenting wherever possible, introduced by the Howard government, and domestic violence will be investigated as part of Professor Chisholm's review.

"I will be interested to try and find out whether that presumption of shared parenting has any connection with family violence," he said.

Darcey tragedy to help violent law review

By Ben Packham

Herald Sun

DARCEY Freeman's mother will be invited to share her story in a review of family violence laws.

The head of the federal review, retired Family Court judge Richard Chisholm, said he hoped to speak to Peta Barnes, whose four-year-old daughter died after she was allegedly thrown from the West Gate Bridge on what was to have been her first school day.

Darcey's father, Arthur Freeman, has been charged with her murder, the Herald Sun reports.

"The Darcey Freeman case is of course very distressing," Prof Chisholm said.

"The questions I will be looking at will be whether there was some way the system might have predicted that something like that was going to happen, or whether the system fell short.

"If members of the family wanted to talk to me, and have some views to put to me about how the system might be improved, I'd be keen to speak to them."