Engaging men on their use of sexual violence as a power and ...

Rally for Children’s Safety
On 25 May 2011, hundreds of supporters turned out for the
Rally for Children’s Safety to improve the family law system.
The date coincided with the introduction of debate on the
govern<strong>men</strong>t’s a<strong>men</strong>d<strong>men</strong>t Bill. The rally was organised
by the Alliance for Children’s Safety, an initiative of four
organisations (NSW Wo<strong>men</strong>’s Refuge Move<strong>men</strong>t, the
Benevolent Society, Justice for Children and the National
Council for Children Post-Separation) who are campaigning
to better protect children and primary carers from ongoing
violence, post-separation. The Alliance for Children’s Safety
calls for a Family Law Act that:
à àputs children’s safety first
à àassesses children’s safety on a case-by-case basis
à àprotects the safety of primary carers, to make children
safer.
The rally heard presentations by family violence survivors,
including those who had experienced outcomes from
family court processes that increased their risk of harm and
undermined their children’s safety and wellbeing. Helen
Cummings, the author of Blood vows (2011), reported how
dangerous the changes to family law since 2006 would
have been for her family, given her ex-partner’s subsequent
murder of his next family.
Other speakers included University of Sydney researcher Dr
Lesley Laing and Richard Spencer, CEO of the Benevolent
Society, who stressed that the most important consideration
of family law should be the protection of children, especially
if there are allegations of violence or abuse. Spencer noted
the staggering fact that in 70-80% of cases where domestic
violence or abuse was alleged by one partner, shared care
was still the outcome, according to the Australian Institute of
Family Studies’ evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms.
The alliance invites organisations and individuals to read more
about and endorse its campaign, through its web site at:
www.safetyforchildrenalliance.org
Put Safety First in Family Law
Put Safety First in Family Law is Wo<strong>men</strong>’s Legal Services
Australia’s campaign calling for the Australian Commonwealth
Govern<strong>men</strong>t to reform family law to make sure it works to
keep wo<strong>men</strong> and children safe. The campaign is endorsed
by the National Association of Community Legal Centres. The
campaign includes a web site equipped with easy-to-access
information, links, campaign resources and background
material to support community action for the changes
necessary to ensure safety for victims of domestic violence,
post-separation. It can be accessed at:
safetyinfamilylaw.com
Other develop<strong>men</strong>ts
Other develop<strong>men</strong>ts assisting to promote safe outcomes
following family law system engage<strong>men</strong>t include:
à àthe Commonwealth Govern<strong>men</strong>t’s pilot of Coordinated
Family Dispute Resolution, which allows family
members who are experiencing family violence (or
have experienced it in the past) to access a safe family
dispute resolution process. The pilot, developed
by Wo<strong>men</strong>’s Legal Service Queensland, brings
together family dispute resolution practitioners, legal
practitioners, domestic violence services and <strong>men</strong>’s
support services to assist separating parents to make
parenting arrange<strong>men</strong>ts
à àthe release of the AVERT multidisciplinary training
package (see the Review in this Newsletter)
à àthe Commonwealth Govern<strong>men</strong>t’s recent calls to tender
for the develop<strong>men</strong>t of a common risk assess<strong>men</strong>t
framework in family law.
Conclusion
The develop<strong>men</strong>ts noted in this update show the
commit<strong>men</strong>t of a wide range of services and individuals to
promoting the safety of wo<strong>men</strong> and children, in view of the
evidence base that highlights the detri<strong>men</strong>tal impact on
domestic violence victims of changes to family law made
in the last decade. It is hoped that policy and law reform
in this area will address the issues which undermine other
efforts across Australia to reduce and prevent domestic and
family violence.
Acknowledge<strong>men</strong>ts
Thanks to Carolin Wenzel (the Benevolent Society) for
providing information and photographs of the rally and to
Edwina MacDonald (Wo<strong>men</strong>’s Legal Services NSW) for
updates on the parlia<strong>men</strong>tary process.
REFERENCES
Wilcox K 2010, ‘Connecting systems, protecting victims:
towards vertical coordination of Australia’s response to
domestic and family violence’, University of New South
Wales Law Journal, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 1013-1037
7
Family law: a Clearinghouse priority
The impact of family law on domestic violence responses is one of the priority concerns of the Clearinghouse. In
2010, we made submissions to the Australian and New South Wales Law Reform Commissions’ Family Violence
Inquiry, as well as to the Attorney-General on the consultation draft of the Family Law A<strong>men</strong>d<strong>men</strong>t (Family Violence)
Bill 2010. Staff have also been involved in the develop<strong>men</strong>t of training modules and program develop<strong>men</strong>t.
We have enhanced our networks with family law sector professionals and explored pointers to good practice in
this field. Newsletter articles and our online research and resources and good practice databases include more
resources on family violence for family court practitioners.
www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au