Mediation laws failing victims, say experts

Mediation laws failing victims, say experts
Ruth Pollard and Carol Nader
November 25, 2008
CHILDREN are handed over to violent fathers, while women are exposed to further harm in family mediation sessions enforced by changes to the law that too often put parents' rights above the safety of children, experts warn.

Two years after their implementation by the former Howard government, changes to the Family Law Act have forced women with apprehended violence orders against their partners into mediation where further threats of abuse occur.

And domestic violence or child abuse made little difference to whether fathers were given overnight access to their children, research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found, prompting calls for urgent reforms to the system and better training for magistrates and mediators.

The supervising solicitor in the Women's Legal Resource Centre domestic violence advocacy service, Karen Mifsud, said many women felt pushed into mediation.

"This is sometimes because they are financially unable to pay for legal representation to go to court but do not qualify for legal aid," she said.

"We have had clients reporting that they do not want to go to mediation because they feel intimidated or scared but feel they have no option as they need to get some sort of arrangement for children in place."

Domestic violence is listed as an additional factor in considering the best interests of the child under the Family Law Act, Ms Mifsud said. "However, it is only one factor, and the case law indicates that there needs to be exceptionally high conflict between parents or extreme domestic violence for such issues to be taken into account when the court is determining children's orders."

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Government was aware of concerns over the way shared parenting provisions in the act had been applied in cases where domestic violence was present. The Government was implementing new accreditation standards that would require all professionals from mediators to judges to be able to identify and respond to evidence of domestic violence.

Meanwhile, submissions to a Government plan to reduce domestic violence have called for increased access to emergency accommodation and legal services for women and their children fleeing such violence.

As part of White Ribbon Day today, Women's Affairs Minister Tanya Plibersek will release the progress report into work of the National Council to Reduce Violence to Women and their Children. The council has received more than 2000 submissions and will deliver a draft plan to reduce domestic violence to the Government by the end of the year.

S