Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Family Relationship Centres
A new approach to the family law
system: implementation of reforms - discussion paper.
Australia. Attorney-General's Department
Canberra, ACT:
Attorney-General's Department, Family Law Pathways Advisory Group, 2004,
22p, Online
Reforms are proposed in this discussion paper
which are an outcome of the 2003 House of Representatives Standing
Committee on Family and Community Affairs inquiry into child custody
arrangements in the event of family separation. The reforms focus on
families and their needs before, during and after separation and provide
ways of resolving conflict without going down the adversarial path. A new
network of Family Relationship Centres is proposed to help families to
develop parenting plans and resolve disputes as early as possible after
separation. Changes to the law will promote the objective of both parents
having a meaningful role in their children's lives. Shared parental
responsibility will be the starting point in most cases. With some
exceptions, parents will have to try to resolve their disputes before
they can take a parenting matter to court. The discussion paper includes
a July 2004 'Framework statement on reforms to the family law system'
from the Prime Minister. Comments are invited on the proposed reforms
(deadline 14 January 2005).
Child-sensitive practices in high-conflict parenting
disputes: a 30-year road to serious reform.
Moloney,
Lawrie
Journal of Family Studies v.12 no.1 May 2006: 37-56
This address to the 2005 International Forum on Family Law, held at
Parliament House, Canberra, attempts to capture the essence of two
important initiatives - the creation of Family Relationship Centres and
the development of nonadversarial litigation processes. The particular
focus is on why these initiatives are so important for children and the
postseparation environment of their parents. (Journal abstract)
Congress address: ACOSS Congress.
Howard,
John
Impact Summer 2006: 10-11,19
The economic and
policy record of the Australian Government over the
last decade is discussed. The article argues that the
most important contribution government can make to
social well being is to foster a growing, productive
economy, but denies that the Government is obsessed
with the economy at the expense of society. It outlines
the Government's vision of social coalition, and discusses
welfare reform, the establishment of Family Relationship
Centres, and mental health initiatives.
Family law: is it laws or families that need
reforming?
Young, Lisa.
Developing Practice: The Child, Youth and Family Work
Journal
no.15 Autumn 2006: 5-7
What is the problem with the
current family law system and wiill the major changes
set to takeplace in 2006 make a difference? This article
considers the social causes of the current low rates
of paternal child contact. It discusses the gendered
division of labour and child care, working parents,
father child relationships, whether joint custody arrangements
are possible in most families, and the potential of
the new Family Relationship Centres.
Family relationship centres in Australia: reflections based on research
and practice.
Moloney, Lawrie; Smyth, Bruce
Family Matters no.69 Spring - Summer 2004: 64-70, and Online (PDF
282K)
The establishment of a new network of Family
Relationship Centres forms the centrepiece of the latest round of family
law reforms in Australia. This article draws on insights from practice
and research in an attempt to anticipate some of the challenges that the
Centres might face. The authors set out key issues that arise from
practice based and broader research literature. Then they ask what is
known about patterns of parenting after separation, the range of parental
and child satisfaction, contact arrangements, child support and levels of
inter parental conflict. Finally they flag gaps in knowledge with
respect to the delivery of services in the Australian family law system
and focus on the need for a research plan that will monitor and evaluate
the Australian Government's latest policy initiative.
Family Relationship Centres: implications for separating
families.
Bailey, Allie
DVIRC Quarterly (Domestic
Violence and Incest Resource Centre) no.4 Summer 2005 - 2006: 22-26
As part of the package of family law system reforms,
the Australian government plans to open 65 Family Relationship
Centres. These centres will provide a range of services,
including pre marital, marital and post separation
advice, information and referrals. One of the key aims
of the centres will be to help the client to 'consider
whether the relationship can be kept together'. In
this article the author shares her concerns about the
new changes to the family law system, because of the
consequences of these reforms on women and children
affected by family violence.
Family relationship centres: why we don't need them.
Sharma, Arti
St Leonards, NSW: Centre for Independent Studies,
2006, 11p (Issue analysis no.70), Online (PDF 1224K)
As part
of a major overhaul of the Family Law Act, the Australian
government plans to spend $200 million establishing
a network of 65 Family Relationship Centres across
the country. While saying that the Government's proposal
to require separating couples to prepare parenting
plans before proceeding to the Court, and encouraging
couples to use dispute resolution services, are sound,
the author argues that the centres will not work, are
not needed by 95 per cent of separating couples, and
waste taxpayers' money by duplicating an existing system
run by the voluntary sector.
Family Relationships
Centres: information paper.
Australia.
Attorney-General's Department
Barton, ACT: Attorney-General's
Department, 2005, 15p, Online (PDF 49K)
This document
summarises operational arrangements for Family Relationship Centres and
is provided for public information. The Australian Government's package
of family law reforms providing $397 million over four years includes the
establishment of 65 Family Relationship Centres and a national advice
line. These will provide support and assistance to people in all stages
of relationships, whether they are thinking about getting married,
seeking parenting advice or need help in the difficult times around
separation.
Giving fathers a fairer go: inside the family law revolution
that's offering hope to disgruntled dads.
Williams,
Daniel
Time no.11 Mar 2005: 48-57
A network of Family
Relationship Centres (FRCs) is to be set up throughout Australia to
complement proposed amendments to the Family Law Act. FRCs will offer
counselling to separating parents, to help them work out a parenting plan
before going to court. This article explores the experiences of non
resident fathers under the current adversarial family court system, and
describes the proposed family law reforms and the role of FRCs in
supporting them. As well as compulsory mediation between parents before
going to court, the proposed amendments include greater court
consideration of equal child contact for each parent, stricter
enforcement of penalties for breaching contact orders, greater
recognition of grandparents' rights, more judicial discretion operating
to achieve speedier outcomes and reduce conflict, more input from
children.
Good practice in Indigenous family violence prevention:
designing and evaluating successful programs.
Memmott,
Paul; Chambers, Catherine; Go-Sam, Carroll; Thomson,
Linda.
Sydney, NSW: Australian Domestic and Family Violence
Clearinghouse, University of New South Wales, 2006,
36p (Issues paper no.11), and Online (PDF 5MB)
Examples of good practice in
Indigenous projects and programs that aimed to address family violence in
Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand are examined. The
paper identifies elements contributing to the success of Indigenous
violence projects, including: cultural grounding of projects, development
of culturally adapted good practice methods, community grounding of
projects, ensuring the involvement of elders, the engagement of men into
programs, self empowerment and self esteem as capacity building by
products, examining intergenerational family history and colonial
experience as a healing method, cultural preference for group approaches
in addition to individual counselling, capacity building through
networking and partnerships, information collection and dissemination on
Indigenous family violence, training and skills acquisition within
projects, and flexibility and adaptability of projects in different
community settings. Project weaknesses and deficiencies are also
explored. The paper summarises models and strategies for sustainable
family violence prevention programs.
Government's response to the family law maze: the Family
Relationship Centres proposal.
Moloney, Lawrie
Journal of Family Studies v.11 no.1 Apr 2005: 11-35
This
paper considers the establishment of Family Relationship Centres (FRCs)
and the problems they are attempting to address. A typology of
postseparation disputes is proposed, the purpose of which is to link
families to the services that best suit their needs. The author explores
reasons why the success of FRCs will inevitably depend on their
recognition in the community as the default service for
separation-related disputes and pays some attention to how a FRC might
look from the inside, before addressing strategic issues related to their
introduction. Finally, the FRCs' strengths and limitations within the
larger family law system are considered.
Keeping in contact: the role of family relationship centres
in Australia.
Parkinson, Patrick
Child and Family
Law Quarterly v.18 no.2 2006: 157-174
The new Family
Relationship Centres are designed to assist parents to prevent
relationship breakdown, assist separating parents and grandparents with
parenting arrangements and child support issues, and provide advice and
mediation services. This article provides an overview of the development
of, and the functions of, the centres. It discusses concern about
fatherless families, the report of the 2003 parliamentary inquiry into
child custody arrangements in the event of family separation, debate
about a tribunal, the emergence of the idea of Family Relationship
Centres, and the centres' focus on early intervention.
Nonresidential parents: nonresidential mothers, schools, and
the reform process.
Baker, Ronald, J; Bishop, Brian J
Journal of Family Studies v.11 no.2 Oct 2005: 205-215
The
Australian Commonwealth Government is about to initiate widespread
changes to family law. Central to the reform proposals is the
introduction of Family Relationship Centres (FRCs), as alternatives to
current adversarial approaches to settling family separation. This
discussion paper raises two issues in relation to the forthcoming
reforms. Firstly, within community debates, nonresidential (noncustodial)
mothers are typically subsumed under nonresidential (noncustodial)
parents, often without recognition of their particular needs, as
nonresidential mothers. The article draws attention to the social stigma
nonresidential mothers suffer and its implications for the reform
process. Secondly, we include both nonresidential mothers and
nonresidential fathers in a critique of the lack of educational
initiatives by educational research and schools to involve nonresidential
parents in their children's schooling. We believe that in the spirit of
the forthcoming reforms, schools need to reach out to all parents. This
means that school personnel (school psychologists, social workers) need
to be available to families and consultants during negotiations within
the proposed FRCs, to assist both nonresidential mothers and fathers in
securing school involvement.
Operational framework: Family Relationship Centres.
Australia. Attorney-General's Department; Australia. Department of
Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Canberra, ACT:
Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2007,
70p, Online (PDF 350K)
The role of the Family Relationship
Centres is to provide information for families, to help families use
other services and to provide help for separating families. This paper
describes the centres' guidelines on: client service delivery; staffing,
training and competency; facilities; national network; community
engagement; guidelines for engagement with other organisations and
individuals; outreach programs; and performance. It discusses the
involvement of children; client diversity; services to Indigenous
clients; legal advice and representation; fees policy; decline of
service; safety; screening and assessment; premises; co location with
other services; information technology and telecommunications; badging;
the Family Relationship Advice Line; Family Law Online; the Family
Relationship Centre website; cooperative and collaborative service
delivery; brokering; referral of clients; collaborative arrangements;
guidelines on information provided at the centre by or about external
services; outreach to regional and rural communities; Indigenous
outreach; service charter and complaints; reporting requirements;
performance policy; and evaluation.