The founder of one of Australia’s leading child abuse agencies is pushing for changes to the Family Law Act.
Peter Geary wants more protection for children in abusive situations, and today he arrived on the Central Coast to spread his message.
The founder of one of Australia’s leading child abuse agencies is pushing for changes to the Family Law Act.
Peter Geary wants more protection for children in abusive situations, and today he arrived on the Central Coast to spread his message.
Everyone must support Pete in demanding changes to the Family Law to bring to an end the harm and suffering of children after decisions by the Family Courts about their custody and contact with dangerous parents. It is barbaric that children treated as mere possessions and no thought is given to their safety and protection by the Family Law. Too many children have died at the hands of such parents, and too many are enduring ongoing abuse by Order of Australian law.
Good onya Pete for getting the point across so loud and clear! We know many situations where children are being abused not only by being ordered to live in dangerous and harmful ‘homes’ but by being prevented from having meaningful contact with their primary carer who has done them no harm – who has usually not even been accused of harming them.. Media coverage of most family law cases is usually silenced by suppression orders so the public knows little about such damaging and unjust court decisions. Children affected by family law decisions have no real voice or choice. Parents are silenced before and after the court’s decisions for fear of being labelled an ‘unfriendly parent’ or because of court orders.
Government services and community organisations are often reluctant to intervene at any stage where the family court is involved. Children can be and are denied (by the court), the right to counselling or any such support after separation and after being placed with the parent they don’t want to live with. Alternatively, children can be forced to undergo ‘counselling’ to make them agree to see the parent they don’t want to have anything to do with! This is a direct contravention of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNROC) to which Australia is a signatory.
Children awarded to one parent without being able to freely contact the other are virtually in detention – can’t phone, email, visit, send birthday card etc. Why is Australia so unwilling to stand up for these children’s rights? Human rights legislation can’t help them because the Family Court is outside their jurisdiction. Only Parliament can help them.
The Family Law Amendment (Family Violence) Bill 2010 will go before Parliament this year. The UNCROC will be a consideration in judicial decisions if this Bill is implemented but judges will still have too much discretion enabling them to make orders which destroy children’s lives.
Justice for Children calls on everyone who cares about children to speak out now.
I too see cases where a parent is punished for seeking help to protect a child who has disclosed sexual abuse by the other parent,
Children are abused by people. We all know that men, and women, can and do abuse children.
However, in the Family Court it is obvious that when mothers try to protect a child, (as mothers and fathers are all supposed to do) they are more likely to be labelled as being mentally unstable and punished and the child being given to the abuser. The abuser of course says ‘Not me – I would never….” And the criminal system requires proof to a standard that most children cannot reach.
We don’t make other victims of crime go live with the armed robber, or the arsonist, or the murderer – why do we allow children to be placed with their tormentor to continue their illegal and damaging form of terrorism?
We need a system that understands children, their development and their safety, and we do not have it.