Draft changes, released on Monday by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, would roll back Howard government requirements for both parents to be consulted in long-term decisions about their children’s future.
The reforms are expected to anger elements of the father’s rights movement and its champions in Parliament, but one expert says it must occur for the courts to be workable when parents are in serious conflict.
Domestic violence campaigners have welcomed the proposal, saying the move will prevent partners from weaponising the courts against their families.
A 2006 change to the law inserted a presumption that parents would share responsibility for making decisions about a child’s long-term future, and obliged Family Court judges to consider whether custodial care should be split equally.
Recent statistics released by the Family Court revealed a risk of family violence in 80 per cent of parenting disputes before the court, and a risk of child abuse in 70 per cent of cases.
The government hopes the change will make the family law less confrontational and less apt to be used as a means for one parent to harass or aggravate another.
Source: Family law shake-up to overturn one signature Howard-era reform