‘Just Say Goodbye’ (January 2013 online edition)

DVRCV Discussion Paper No. 8The Australian Law Reform Commission’s review examined the intersectionbetween child protection systems and family law where violence is present infamilies. They found that where children are concerned there is a particularlyfragmented system with unclear jurisdictional boundaries and inadequatecommunication and information sharing between the courts and child protectionagencies (ALRC 2010).The ALRC report contains recommendations for reform to improve safetyfor women and children, including greater recognition of the impact of intimatepartner violence on children, and the risks of harm to children when there hasbeen violence against the mother and/or where the mother holds fears for thesafety of her children. The report also recommended the safety of children andtheir parents be prioritised in decisions about parenting arrangements.The Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and OtherMeasures) Bill 2011 was introduced into Federal Parliament in March 2011.This bill proposed amendments to the Family Law Act to protect childrenand families at risk of violence or abuse. It did this in a number of ways, suchas prioritising the safety of children in parenting matters; including harmfulbehaviour in the definitions of ‘abuse’ and ‘family violence’; requiring familyconsultants, family counsellors, family dispute resolution practitioners and legalpractitioners to prioritise the safety of children; and placing additional reportingrequirements on certain parties to provide evidence to courts. The bill, whichhas been subject to a Senate inquiry, was passed in Parliament in November2011. It is hoped that the new legislation will bring about positive changes tofamily law in Australia.Social, medical and mental health servicesMany perpetrators of filicide experience depression and therefore may comeinto contact with general practitioners or mental health services. Brown andTyson (2011), who recently commenced research on filicide in Victoria 138 ,found that almost all perpetrators of filicide had contact with communityservices and that the most common service was GPs. They found that warningsigns were present but were not passed on to relevant agencies (Brown andTyson 2011).Given that separation is a key factor in many filicides, it also follows thatservices coming into contact with separating parents (such as relationships’advice services, men’s support services and family mediation services) mayplay an important role in identifying families at risk and providing appropriatesupports and/or intervention.138 Thea Brown and Danielle Tyson from Monash University have commenced research on filicide in the contextof parental separation. They have obtained access to coronial records in Victoria and were in the process ofanalysing their data at the time this discussion paper was being finalised.84