The Sunday Times
14 February 2016

Family Court of Australia CEO Richard Foster told Federal Parliament this week our family courts deal with 200,000 adults each year, but they have no idea of how many – or how badly – children are affected by their decisions. On February 2, the Senate was in no doubt – it took the extraordinary step of calling on the Government to acknowledge that thousands of children are being harmed by our family law system, and to implement a new, non- adversarial system.

This followed closely on the heels of news that the United Nations had censured the Family Court of WA for violations of human rights, and that a brave teenage girl – the survivor of a murder- suicide – had told the WA Coroner how “the Family Court completely failed us”. The Senate has called for simple, important things: child protection; gender equality; a new, non- adversarial system to resolve family separation.

Surely, for kids’ sake, it’s time?