Sir James Munby, the President of the High Court Family Division, has made a formal declaration that UK law discriminates against single parents with children born through surrogacy and is incompatible with their human rights. Re Z (A Child) (No…
Law of the Land? Is Sharia Law operating in our suburbs?
All Australians are free to choose their beliefs and customs; we’re all entitled to the same freedoms and we are bound by one set of rules … the law. Whether you are Catholic, Anglican, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim – though…
Australia ‘leading exporter’ of paedophiles seeking surrogate children
Australian sex offenders are going overseas in search of surrogate babies in worrying numbers, says a leading surrogacy lawyer who believes urgent law reform is needed. The Age revealed on Friday that one man, who cannot be named, had a…
Child abductions will continue to happen as Australia increases its international ties
The situation in Lebanon – where mother Sally Faulkner, alongside a 60 Minutes film crew, made a failed attempt to recover her children from their Lebanese father – highlights the difficulties facing separated Australian parents where one or both parents have connections with…
International parental child abduction is a cinch in Australia
A CHILD is buckled into a seat before the plane engine roars and they are soon soaring through the clouds, away from the only home and family they have ever known. But this is not a return trip. The child’s…
‘I hadn’t realised how absolutely pervasive family violence is’: royal commissioner
The head of Australia’s first royal commission into family violence, Justice Marcia Neave, has spoken of the huge task she and her team tackled over the past 13 months, including juggling extensive and sometimes contradictory evidence from more than 200…
Despite positive steps, Australia still needs to do more to end forced marriage
Forced marriage was criminalised three years ago in Australia. Since then, Australia has taken robust steps to respond to forced marriage by shaping legal, education and community engagement. But significant challenges remain. What is forced marriage? Forced marriage is a…
Separating siblings in custody order tears family apart, say family law experts
Although the court decision to separate two siblings in a custody dispute as in the S. Deepa case is not unprecedented, lawyers, including family law practitioners, say it is not encouraged as the family will be torn apart. The lawyers…
One-court solution to Aussie family law crisis
Australia’s family court system is in crisis – it’s time we considered adopting a system used in New Zealand, which could be the answer, writes Jennifer Hetherington. Recent reports of more than 300 pending matters in a backlog at Brisbane with only two…
Family law courts are in crisis
LAST month marked the 40th anniversary of the commencement of the Family Law Act in Australia. Like many 40-year-olds, family law has matured but is in need of a little care and a freshen-up. Meanwhile, family law courts in Queensland…