BEGA Women’s Refuge is joining other NSW women and community groups to call for family law changes to make children safer.
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Representatives from the Refuge and South East Women and Children’s Service (SEWACS) will travel to Canberra on Wednesday, May 25 to call for amendments to the Family Law Act to better protect children and families at risk of domestic violence or abuse.
“We’ll be gathering on the federation lawn of Parliament House to press for these important changes,” Bega Women’s Refuge program manager Sue Cetkovic said.
“The aim is to give priority to the safety of children.”
The proposed Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 defines child abuse more broadly to include exposure to violence and removes disincentives for victims to report abuse.
It also improves courts’ access to evidence of family violence and makes it easier for state and territory child protection authorities to participate in family law proceedings.
“The negative impact of domestic violence, including witnessing violence or abuse, on children’s development is widely documented but is not sufficiently recognised by the family courts,” Ms Cetkovic said.
“That needs to change if we are going to better protect children.
“That’s why the Bill’s expanded definition of family violence to cover a range of behaviours including children’s exposure to violence, coercion and torment, is necessary for putting children’s safety first,” she said.
Ms Cetkovic said the Women’s Refuge often saw women and children caught in a contradiction between the family law system’s presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and child protection legislation that may direct women to remove children from a violent partner.
“Women come to us for safe haven, often to remove themselves and their children from a violent partner,” she said.
“But some women who are referred to us can be prevented from relocating to safety where there are shared parenting custody rulings preventing them from doing so.
“This can put women and children at further risk and is an unacceptable, unintended consequence of current family law legislation which must change.”
Ms Cetkovic said there was a lack of coordination between the state’s legal and child protection systems and the federal Family Courts.
“This needs urgent attention if we are going to achieve the safest outcomes for children.
“We want to see the family law system do a much better job of keeping primary carers of children emotionally and physically safe from violence and abuse,” she said.
The proposed family law amendments follow the advice of reports by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, Family Law Reform Professor Richard Chisholm and the Family Law Council.
These reports all concluded the current Family Law Act and court processes posed unacceptable barriers to the safety of children in family breakdown involving violence or abuse.
The Rally for Children’s Safety will be held on Wednesday 25, May from 11am-1pm on Parliament House’s federation lawn.
To support the rally or for more information, www.safetyforchildrenalliance.org
Interviews are available for local women who have experienced family breakdown involving violence or abuse through Debra Maynard, 96657182 or 0407 299 007.