Contact Your MP

Do you believe Australia’s family court system is in need of significant reform? If so, you can help this happen by writing today to your local MP.

On 2 Feb 2016, the Australian Senate passed a motion calling for a major review and reform of Australia’s family courts. It’s now important to follow this up with a letter to your local MP to make sure something actually happens.

If you don’t know who your local MP is, or how to contact them, visit
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian_Search_Results?expand=1&q=&mem=1&par=-1&gen=0&ps=100&st=1
Here, you can put in the name of your MP to find out contact details, or simply your postcode, to find out who your local representative is.

A short, one-page letter or email will be most effective, especially if it focusses on the key issues (you could simply cut-and-paste these points into your own letter if you prefer not to write something yourself):

1) The current family court system is very harmful to families, and especially children; it is not “fit for purpose”;

2) On 2 February 2016, the Australian Senate formally recognised this and called on the government to adopt the recommendations of the major 2003 report “Every Picture Tells a Story”, which recommended implementation of a new, non-adversarial system;

3) Our family courts are inevitably slow, unaffordable and adversarial. And their nature and procedures inevitably contribute to harming children; they can’t be moulded into the system our children need and deserve. They’re the wrong tool for the job;

4) There are alternative systems that could be readily implemented – and Australia can look to some other countries that have much better systems, legislation or outcomes from family separation;

5) The policy paper “Children in Crisis” (downloadable on the home page of this website) outlines the policies, principles and rationale behind a new system.

Thank you.