We’ve rounded up all the latest news from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.
1. Rosie Batty calls for an overhaul of the family court system.
Domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty has called for changes to the family law system, fronting a campaign to overhaul the Family Law Act.
The “five-step” campaign says the current system is failing victims and their children.
More than 90 organisations have backed a five-point plan, Safety First in Family Law.
The campaign is calling for a ban on alleged domestic violence perpetrators cross-examining their victims in court and for courts to consider any family violence history when determining how to divide property in a divorce settlement.
They also want to change the way custody disputes are handled by removing references to “equal shared time” and “equal shared parental responsibility” from the Act, in favour of a greater focus on the safety of children.
Ms Batty told of her own experience, saying the Family Court encouraged her to allow her son Luke’s violent father to have access to the 11-year-old.
Luke was later killed by his father at Tyabb cricket ground in February 2014.
“Now is an opportunity for all political parties to commit to putting the safety of women and children first in family law,” A letter co-signed by the 90 organisations and sent to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor leader Bill Shorten says.
“We are not asking for another review. We are not asking for another inquiry. We are asking all political leaders to act now, to put safety first in family law.”
Top Comments
The incentive for women in failed relationships to misreport violence is increasing exponentially. The upside to them is huge. And don't tell me women don't know it and don't use it to their advantage. I am not sure when the same legal fundamentals don't apply to everything, but there is a worrying trend re alleged DV. A slippery slope indeed. Just remember, a man wrongfully accused is a significant victim too.
Unless you have any compelling statistics on men who are wrongfully accused, I don't really think this problem is on the same scale as the DV problem we now know we have.
"Australia is among the world’s worst for enrolment levels of children younger than three in early learning programs."
Are you kidding me?? I think I just blew a vein in my forehead reading this....
Children under 3 don't NEED childcare and early learning programs. I am thrilled that we are among the 'world's worst' in this statistic. Are kids at home with their Mums (or Dads, or even grandparents) really apparently that disadvantaged? There are so many things wrong with the above statement that I could rant for days. But I won't as I'd like to save some sanity.
Children under 3 should be making mud pies in their own backyards, and learning negotiation from sharing toys with their siblings. They don't NEED a program to teach them how to do that, even though that is what the childcare companies would like you to believe - that somehow you are less of a parent if you don't send your kids off to someone else to look after them. I'm sorry but it is rare that a childcare centre of any kind can provide the kind of care that comes from one on one with a loved one - as much as they might like or love your child it is just not possible to give that same attention to 8 or so kids simultaneously. That is what parents are for, and kids learn from just living in the world and playing in it. Not everything has to be a formal program to be worth anything. If we have outsourced our lives to the point that we now believe that unless 2 year olds are in early learning programs they will be massively disadvantaged... well, stop the world I want to get off.
I would love to know who paid for this study to be done.
What a ridiculous study, and I really hope that this doesn't influence some poor struggling Mum who is already wondering if she is doing everything she should (or Dad etc) for her kids into something that they don't need or want to do.