Children are at the mercy of unregulated professionals who play “God” with their safety and future with complete legal immunity in the Family Court, whistleblowers say.
Private family report writers are among the most influential parties in child custody cases, yet they operate without accreditation, are not required to have foundational knowledge about coercive control or systems abuse and are virtually untouchable if they recommend dangerous custody arrangements.
The widespread problem was acknowledged by the federal government more than two years ago when it legislated new powers to enforce mandatory standards for family report writers.
But the untrained ‘experts’ will continue to influence who children live or spend unsupervised time with for years to come, as the accountability reforms have stalled.
Consisting of social workers and psychologists, family report writers are granted witness immunity by the court to enable them to give honest opinions about family dynamics without fear of legal threat.
Critics say this legal fortress creates an accountability vacuum as there is no effective way of holding them to account as they are not bound by enforceable standards and there is no formal accreditation or monitoring process for compliance in place.
Experts say report writers are highly susceptible to being manipulated by charming perpetrators and can reframe genuine safety concerns through the lens of parental alienation.
Private report writers are expensive, costing up to $15,000, paid directly by parents often to avoid delays in court proceedings.
Those who are registered psychologists are technically answerable to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, however it rarely intervenes in Family Court, especially in relation to reports, which are viewed as judicial disputes.
Source: Unaccredited Family Court experts influencing child custody cases | Herald Sun