Laurie Nowell
June 07, 2009 12:00am
CHILD welfare campaigners have called for an overhaul of the family law system, citing statistics they claim show courts have forced children to spend time with abusive or violent parents.
Campaigner Barbara Biggs says an analysis of the latest Family Court statistics shows courts are forcing children to spend time with parents they fear.
A recent speech by the Family Court's Chief Justice, Diana Bryant, appears to confirm this. But the Family Court has rejected the analysis.
The court says each case is determined on its merits and much of the contact between parents and children under the court's orders is supervised.
The court data shows children in at least 267 separated families in 2007-8 were forced to spend time with parents who the court deemed abusive or violent.
Of fathers before the court, a third were awarded less than 30 per cent custody and in 29 per cent of those cases it was because of abuse or family violence.
Of the cases in which women were awarded less than 30 per cent custody, abuse or family violence was the reason in 16 per cent of cases.
Ms Biggs claims up to 15,000 children might have had forced contact with violent parents over the past five years.
In a public lecture at the Queensland University of Technology in April, Chief Justice Bryant said: "In a third of litigated cases, the Family Court ordered that children spend 30 per cent or less time with their father.
"Abuse and/or family violence was the major reason why this order was made. In 9 per cent of litigated cases, the Family Court ordered that children spend 30 per cent or less time with their mother, the major reason being the presence of health issues."
A spokesman for the Family Court said: "Each case is judged on its merits and statistics tend to make it look as though they are all the same. You need to see the individual orders to properly understand the situation and before you can draw conclusions."
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