Australian Parliament Approves Law to Repeal Shared Parental Responsibility

The new law could put fathers in a more disadvantaged position in family court battles.

Family And Children’s Rights Australia (FACRA) organised a march from Family Court of Western Australia to Parliament House to raise public awareness about the issues with family law on Sept. 1, 2019. Wade Zhou/ The Epoch Times

Parents going through divorce may not have equal access to their children under a new law approved by the Australian federal parliament.

The legislation will scrap the legal presumption of “equal shared parental responsibility,” which was part of the Family Law Act 1975 that was introduced by the Howard government.

The removal of shared care means parents may not have equal opportunities to create meaningful relationships with children and become involved in their lives after divorce.

The Family Law Amendment, which was approved on Oct. 19, would also require independent children’s lawyers to meet directly with children and emphasise the protection of children and their families from the harmful effects of prolonged and adversarial litigation.

In addition, the parliament also passed the Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023 which would give courts access to the full picture of family safety risks to prioritise the safety of children and families, especially in situations of child abuse, neglect, or family violence.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the new law would “see more family law matters resolved quickly, safely, and inexpensively without compromising the safety of family members.”

“The Government recognises the advocacy of those with lived experiences of family and domestic violence. Their stories have been central to the development and passage of these important reforms and I thank them for their contributions,” he said in a statement.

The legislation was based on a finding by a bipartisan parliamentary committee that the legal assumption “failed to prioritise the safety of children and that they were being improperly applied in a way that put children at risk,” he added.

Change May Hinder Parental Involvement

However, academics have expressed concern that removing shared parenting in court disputes would put fathers in a more disadvantageous position in family court battles and pave the way for false allegations.

According to family law professor Patrick Parkinson, who advised the Howard government about the 2006 reforms, dads could be “cut out” under the changes.

“Under the guise of simplification, it actually involves radical change and radical reversal,” Mr. Parkinson told The Australian in January this year.

False allegations of domestic abuse had been increasingly used by mothers as a “horrible weapon” to shut their husbands out of the child’s life, according to David Collier, a retiring judge from Parramatta Family Court.

‘‘If a husband and wife really get down to it in this day and age, dirt flies,’' Justice Collier told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Augusto Zimmerman, head of law at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education in Perth, agrees.

He pointed to the testimonies of “good fathers whose spouses have run off and been awarded the sole custody of their biological children while they are expected to pay full support.”

The research also is divided. While some studies have shown that shared care puts children in a vulnerable situation in cases of domestic abuse, research by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) said children in shared care have relatively high well-being, which could be a result of “the greater degree of cooperation and shared decision-making in parental arrangements.”