Justice Action: Access to our community

We have been battling for access to our community with our publications

NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.

NSW Prison Commissioner of Corrective Services Mr Ron Woodham has dropped his ban on Justice Action publications.

Kingsford Legal Centre corresponded with Mr Woodham's office following the Supreme Court action challenging the banning of The Australian Prisoners' Election Newspaper in NSW prisons.

We submitted a slightly altered version of the national newspaper for prisoners, to make it specific to NSW. The paper was submitted asserting the protection of the Constitutional right of Australian citizens to receive political information in order to cast an informed vote at elections.

The Department tried to stall, taking 3 months to respond to the submission of the draft newspaper. Only when Kingsford set a deadline, after which we would again take them to court, did Mr Woodham respond.

He said,

"I note that the editorial section of the submitted 'newspaper' contains a number of provocative and misleading comments... While it is arguable that some of the material does not consist of communication about government or political matters, I have no objection to the content of the majority of the newspaper... It is not my intention to place a ban on this newspaper but I insist that only those individuals who expressly indicate their interest in receiving a copy of the newspaper be sent one."

This is an important precedent, allowing even 'provocative and misleading' material.

We are now contacting prisoners to organise for internal distribution.

Below is the full text of Woodham's response, with his attached analysis of the newspaper.

Justice Action
65 Bellevue St, Glebe, NSW 2037, Australia
P.O. Box 386, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
ja@justiceaction.org.au
voice: 612-9660 9111 fax: 612-9660 9100

Please log into the Justice Action Web site, designed and sponsored by
Breakout Design & Print, exercising good corporate citizenship:

New South Wales Government
Department of Corrective Services

Ms Joanne Moffitt
Principal Solicitor
Kingsford Legal Centre
11 Rainbow Street
KINGSFORD NSW 2032

Dear Ms Moffitt,

I refer to your letters of 23 February 2005 10 March 2005 and previous correspondence on behalf of Justice Action in which yo have sought my permission for copies of the 'Australian Prisoners Election newspaper' to be distributed to inmates in NSW correctional centres. I understand that your client is now only seeking approval in relation to pages 1 to 4 of this newspaper.

I note that the editorial section of the submitted 'newspaper' contains a number of provocative and misleading comments and also invites inmates to submit "Écommentary, personal accounts, short stories and letters to the editor on any topic". This is inconsistent with the purported purpose of the paper which according to your correspondence is to "provide prisoners with political information relevant to their right to vote". I can only conclude that the real intention of this publication is to provide inmates with a vehicle for criticism of the Department of Corrective Services and to circumvent the ban that I have imposed on the distribution of 'Framed'.

While it is arguable that some of the material does not consist of communication about government or political matters, I have no objection to the content of the majority of the newspaper and have attached comments in relation to the individual sections. I am however not prepared to arrange for the distribution of this newspaper to all inmates in NSW correctional centres.

It is not my intention to place a ban on this newspaper but I insist that only those individuals who expressly indicate their interest in receiving a copy of the newspaper be sent one. I also reserve my decision in relation to any future issues of the newspaper and require your clients to submit these for consideration should your client wish them to be approved for distribution to, or otherwise made available to inmates in NSW correctional centres.

Yours Sincerely

(signature)

RON WOODHAM
Commissioner
23 March 2005

Encl.

1 Editorial....The editorial lies outside the scope of political discussion and parts of its content is provocative in its reference to:

* "I see no criminals, I see before me political prisoners" (paragraph 1)
Comment: The Department would not accept that it detains political prisoners

* Labor party banning distribution of this newspaper (paragraph4)
Comment: Any decision to allow distribution of this newspaper to inmates is departmental

* "(Labor-appointed) prison Commissioner decide that prisoners are better off without one specific human rightÉ "(paragraph5)
Comment: Statement incorrect and provocative

* ..."if you're freezing and starving alone in your cell in the High Risk Management Unit" (paragraph6)
Comment: The Department would not accept that it detains inmates without adequate clothing or food

* (the newspaper) "will include articles, commentary, poetry, personal accounts, short stories and letters to the editor on any topic "(paragraph9)
Comment: It is apparent that the newspaper intends to carry articles, which lie outside the scope of political discourse

* Reference to "The Prisoner's Paper"
Comment: It would appear that this publication is intended to replace "Framed" as a vehicle for criticism of the Department

Suggested Action: Justice Action be advised that in its current format the editorial is unacceptable

Every Vote Sacred? No issues of concern identified
Inmate voting cartoon No issues of concern identified

2 Greens Advertisement No issues of concern identified
Australian Democrats Advertisement There is no authorisation from the Australian Democrats to validate its authenticity. However no issues of concern identified in relation to content

Socialist Alliance Advertisement. There is no authorisation from the Socialist Alliance to validate its authenticity. However no issues of concern identified
How to vote if you're a prisoner No issues of concern identified

3 Helping Communities Fight Crime. There is no authorisation from 'the Coalition' to validate its authenticity. However no issues of concern identified in relation to content

Labor's Plan to protect and strengthen human rights in Australia. There is no authorisation from Labor to validate its authenticity. However no issues of concern identified in relation to content

Have you been sentenced for a federal crime? No issues of concern identified

Q&A: Prisoners ask why? There is no authorisation from the political parties to validate the authenticity of answers provided however no issues of concern identified in relation to content

4 Q&A Continued. In response to the final question, the Socialist Alliance response makes reference to inmate work being "much like slave labour". The department would not agree with this

First Prisoners' Newspaper. It would appear that this publication is intended to replace "Framed" as a vehicle for criticism of the Department. Requests for suggestions for the name of the newspaper is at odds with the stated name, The Australian Prisoners' Newspaper

The History of the prisoners Vote. No issues of concern identified

By Justice Action 15 April 05

Related:

Elections:

REPORT: AUSTRALIAN PRISONERS' ELECTION NEWSPAPER
There was high drama as the only state prisons department in Australia to refuse the The Australian Prisoners' Election Newspaper, was challenged in an emergency hearing before the NSW Supreme Court.

'HOW TO VOTE' MATERIAL BANNED
Australian voters have been blocked from receiving 'how to vote' material from the political parties.

Emergency Supreme Court action for prisoners' vote
Renowned constitutional lawyer, George Williams QC, assisted by Ben Zipser of Selborne Chambers and Joanne Moffit of Kingsford Legal Centre will argue for the right of prisoners to receive voting information in the form of The Australian Prisoners' Election Newspaper. The newspaper has been banned by the prisons commissioner, Mr. Ron Woodham. No explanation has been given.

RE: URGENT - Prisoner enrolment to vote!
Justice Action has been talking to the Australian Electoral Commission over the past three weeks about what steps were being taken to ensure that prisoners were given the opportunity to enrol to vote in the Australian Election on October 9.

Prisoner's right to vote attacked again!
On the eve of the election the Howard government has rushed a new law into the Parliament which will further remove the rights of prisoners to vote.

Howard wants prisoner vote ban
Politicians opposed to a federal government plan to ban all prisoners from voting were soft on crime, Special Minister for State Eric Abetz said.

Govt moves to strip prisoners' voting rights
The Australian Council for Civil Liberties has condemned a Federal Government move to stop prisoners voting. Under current laws, prisoners serving less than five years can vote.

Message of Solidarity: Greens
The Australian corrections system is appalling and rife with abuse of prisoner's rights. The spiralling numbers of those locked up, now over 23,000, is an indictment on a society which purports to be fair and democratic.

Prisoners must get right to vote, says court
UK: The government will be forced to lift a ban on prisoners voting dating back to 1870 after the European court of human rights ruled yesterday it breached a lifer's human rights.

Fighting for Florida: Disenfranchised Florida Felons Struggle to Regain Their Rights US: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush looked out over a roomful of felons appealing to him for something they had lost, and tried to reassure them.

Felons and the Right to Vote One of the greatest achievements of the civil rights struggle was the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which removed most of the obstacles that kept African Americans away from the ballot box and enabled Americans who did not speak English to vote. But the voting rights movement never reached the last excluded segment of our democracy: our prisoners.

Prisons:

MORE PRISONERS LOCKDOWNS HAVE OFFICERS ON EDGE
NSW POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has issued an ultimatum as well, to the lawless youths holding Sydney's streets to ransom?: Learn some respect or face jail?

Tough line on crime fills jails
The tough law-and-order policies of governments around the nation are behind an explosion in the prison population by almost 80 per cent in the past two decades.

LEGAL VISITS AT PARKLEA PRISON
I am a prisoner in NSW and I am currently held in Parklea Prison. I am concerned about what is going on in NSW prisons and this is my story.

Parklea Prison: No calls for six days
The last calls that were made out of Parklea Correctional Complex by my partner, an inmate in remand at Parklea, was on Wednesday 2 February. The phone lines for the inmates have been out of service to this date.

Prison visits in crisis in NSW
The reason I am writing today is to address a difficult situation that my husband and my family are going through. My husband is currently serving a sentence at Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

The prison system requires assiduous oversight
As NSW Attorney General Bob Debus noted in 1996: "The kinds of complaints which occur in the system may seem trivial to outsiders but in the superheated world of the prison, such issues can produce explosive results."

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Justice Denied In NSW Corrective Services
There used to be a (VJ) or Visiting Justice who would go into the prison and judge any claim or accusation that was made by any prisoner or prison guard. If it were found that a prisoner had offended then punishment was metered out.

Prison guards test positive for drugs
NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet The visit is only for about one hour and any thing less than that is an insult. If it's proved that a visitor has broken the rules the punishment should apply to them. But collective punishment on all visitors should not be made general when others haven't broken the rules especially if it restricts all visitors from normal human needs like using a toilet.

NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
The New South Wales Government has introduced several initiatives to stop contraband getting into prisons they said last Friday. But under the guise of "stricter rules" the department had also introduced banning all visitors including children from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit at any NSW prison after using the toilet.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
On Tuesday the Carr Government reduced transparency and accountability yet again and New South Wales is in danger of becoming entrenched with cronyism and intimidations with the Carr Labor Government that continues to slaughter the watchdogs.

Custody overhaul to improve men's access to children

The Federal Government has announced an overhaul of family law arrangements, with plans to give men involved in marriage break-ups greater access to their children.

The changes also include new centres to provide compulsory mediation to separating couples.

The shake-up does not include a new families tribunal to hear custody cases, which was the key recommendation of a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry.

Many Coalition MPs backed the idea and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock concedes they will be disappointed.

"I think some will be," he said.

Mr Ruddock says that at $500 million, the tribunal idea was too expensive.

"Cost is relevant if you are looking at the resources that you want to put into helping to resolve disputes. We see the new family relationship model retaining most of the benefits of the tribunal proposal but it also overcomes its limitations," he said.

However, the Government will instead set up 65 "family relationships centres" around the country, with the first 15 to open within a year.

The Government would also ensure children would be legally required to spend time with both parents after a relationship breakdown.

"That would occur in all cases except those involving violence, child abuse and entrenched conflict," Mr Ruddock said.

The Government is also proposing a greater role for grandparents in custody disputes, a plan to make the Family Court less adversarial and to set up a taskforce to review the current child support payments scheme.

Lawyer support

The Law Council of Australia has welcomed the overhaul.

The council's family law chairman, Michael Foster, says the plan may prevent some couples being forced into the courts system.

"Only around 2 per cent of separating families ever need a judge or a magistrate to make a decision, but if we can avoid some of those people needing it in the future that's good," he said.

"For the 98 per cent who've managed to resolve their problems by agreement, then if we can make that quicker and easier, that has to be better for children."

The Australian Families Association has also cautiously welcomed the changes.

The association's Damien Tudehope says the changes will reduce the reliance of couples on lawyers.

He agrees the changes will keep more matters out of the courts.

"You've got to have the backstop of legal issues being resolved by courts," he said.

"If the parties can't resolve it through a relationship centre and hopefully staffed by people with appropriate expertise, then the number of people who would find it necessary to approach the courts would be minimised."

Relationships Australia says the relationships centres will help separating couples.

However, spokeswoman Anne Hollands says more effort should be put into stopping marriage break-downs in the first place.

"What we also need is increased funding for people much much earlier in the process to help them build stronger marriages in the first instance," she said.

"This is a great concern for us at the moment because there was no new funding in the budget for current services which are already struggling to meet demand."

Different priorities

Opposition Leader Mark Latham says the processes of the Family Court should be streamlined, to make it less traumatic and expensive for those coping with family breakdown.

Mark Latham said he will look at the Government's proposals, but he thinks the priorities should be entrenching the idea of shared responsibility for parenting and reforming the Family Court.

"If we can reduce the legal cost and processes, the time, the trauma and get people through the family court processes faster, then everyone's better off. If they get a fair judgement in a faster way, everyone's better off, you can get on with the rest of your life," he said.

By My Favourite Martian 29 July 04

Related:

Zero Tolerance for Families
A three-strikes plan, which uses the threat of fines and jail to (force) parents to meet their parental obligations after divorce, could be introduced under a draft proposal from the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian
A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

Men told to change role but what for?
Fathers must take an equal role in parenting before their marriages end in divorce if changes to child custody laws are going to work, Pru Goward said yesterday.

Family Law: Shared parenting arrangements
My children were four and two years of age and it's been fourteen years since I seen my children who are now adults. I don't know where they are because the government fragmented us by order of the Family Court of Australia, which should be called, the Anti-Family Court of Australia. Big yawn!!!

Australian fathers under terrorist attack-by its Politicians
Ruthless terrorists tactics are used by the state deny devoted fathers their children, and place vulnerable children at risk when they are denied their fathers protection. Five hundred thousand Australian children are denied contact with their father usually resulting from orders of the state by the Family and other Courts.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website? Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian

A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

The Martian saw the mother and the father go to court because they couldn't arrange a proper and fair arrangement between themselves. Questions were raised like whose fault it was for the essence of the breakdown and who didn't put the garbage out.

Mum and Dad had developed a personality clash between them and couldn't agree about the children, because their emotional levels and the value and principals (children) were very high.

But the Judge at the Family Court said the husband should pay a gross penalty here because he/she had decided or was influenced to believe that the mother was the best person to raise the child.

The Martian was surprised at the outcome. When he went back to Mars and sat on the Martian Council, explaining to his fellow Martians that the Family Court was "irrational" about shared parenting. The children were the product of both parents he said but there was an 80-20 rule in the court, which was unequal.

If parents were not judged equally and were not given an equal opportunity to share an equal amount of time with their children, when the children were the products of both the father and the mother and the family was split, then this was irrational.

Not just that, he explained, but what if after the orders were made by the court and during the course of the already unequal status, one parent decided to move interstate or overseas fragmenting altogether, the contact by one parent to the children of the marriage?

What if one parent who had custody was just a pain in the neck and decided the other parent was never going to see their children again? Did the custodial parent have an advantage, to throttle the other parent?

Of course this is a danger and some parents never accepted the result. Some parents killed themselves over it, some parents killed their spouse, and some parents killed their children.

Why? Because some parents had less social skills and limited social contacts, low self-esteem and self-worth and didn't make the connection, that it was "their fault". These parents were placed under considerable pressure or had limited resources to deal with this incredible penalty metered out by authorities.

Research has been around for years that the majority of children who live with one parent developed long-lasting psychological problems, and were confused and some even anti-social.

Such arrangements caused enduring "disorganised attachment" with one parent in 80 per cent of juveniles because of split marriages says Gregory Kable from Justice Action.

"Family therapist make mince meat out of these families. Families who disagree and who go on to be used as fodder for this victim industry. You'll probably read about psychologists and family therapists in the Herald today screaming that they have the answer."

"But most likely if you ask them "do you have children of your own?" they fall flat on there arse, because they were too busy doing their degree. But they still have all the answers?"

"It's too hard for them to ask people who have lived through the unfairness. They don't ask where are your children today."

My answer is, "I don't know, perhaps there on Mars." Some old children and adults, have developed "alarming levels of emotional insecurity and poor ability to regulate strong emotion" being detached and having no sense of identity, because of the detachment from one parent or the other, or one family or the other for that matter.

Gregory Kable called the presumption of 50-50 shared parenting, the focus of a federal parliamentary inquiry into child custody, "an equal idea". Mr Kable's research, history and experience in the Family Court and dealing with marriage breakdown is extensive and in fact the NSW government prevented him seeing his children by passing a law. Mr Kable agreed that the sensitive involvement of both parents was vital to children's adjustment after family breakdown but said the greatest damage came from continuing parental conflict over the 80-20 rule, whatever the living arrangements.

"Single parenting in the absence of a father figure and one side of the family respectively cannot support the necessary balance for children. It causes long term damage for the children particularly seen in confused and anti-social teenagers," he said.

"Equally, shared parenting and arrangements, balanced the developmental needs for a secure predictable long term existence with the children's family attachment figures, the father, mother, siblings and grandparents, even if the family breaks down"

A bond with both parents could profoundly influence a child's development, but prolonged absences from one parent or the other parent or from one family or the other family and multiple indecisions confused children, especially when parents were in conflict over unequal access.

For children who had regular access to both parents, attachment was well as can be expected given the reality of the marriage breakdown. Shared residence in early adolescence was a viable and useful solution to marriage breakdown, providing parents managed their conflict and the child was allowed some choice.

A mediator from Relationships Australia, Dianne Gibson, said it was best for young children to spend some time with both parents.

Clinical psychologists involved in family law benefit from the 80-20 situation because of the additional tension created by the rule. For instances when judges order psychologists to interview the family including the children of the marriage and report to the court. These people are worse than the pharmaceutical companies.

Professor Lawrie Moloney, from La Trobe University, says the assumption of joint custody is offensive.

"You don't treat the child as an object," he said.

Mr Kable said, "Professor Lawrie Moloney is not helping anyone understand the issue because the court is deciding on the breakdown of a family into parts in the first place because their parents don't get on."

"It is my understanding that you're deciding where each part should be satisfied equally."

By My Favourite October 21 03

Related:

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

Australia to tackle child abuse and rescue impoverished children?
A national report on child protection in the Northern Territory has blasted the system, saying it has abandoned the most impoverished children and families in Australia.

ATSIC call to smack kids?
The ATSIC commissioner said the high levels of regulation was not unlike the attention focused on Aboriginal families that led to the creation of a Stolen Generation of Aboriginal people. Mr Hill said he did not condone violence and admitted he did not smack his own children, but he stressed he wanted the issue of child discipline debated among Aboriginal people and community leaders.

No-Smacking Day for Children in NSW
Patmalar Ambikapathy the Children's Commissioner, HOBART Tasmania spoke to Gregory Kable a caseworker at Justice Action at the Controlling Crime Conference at Redfern in Sydney yesterday and we both realised how parallel our ideas about crime prevention were.

Judge renews child detainee release call
A Family Court judge, for a second time, has appealed to Immigration Minister, war criminal, Philip Ruddock to address the issue of children in detention.

Partnership to tackle Aboriginal children's health issues
Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley has called for a sense of urgency in tackling the serious health problems facing Aboriginal children.

Graffiti: What they see is what you get
Father David Equal, a community leader has described the graffiti as the response to neglect by Australia's leaders, and the mainstream media, who have discriminated against people, recently.

Ruddock to challenge Family Court ruling
Ruddock said it is unfortunate the Full Court of the Family Court made the decision. He said a successful High Court challenge could see the children returned to detention.

Men told to change role but what for?
Fathers must take an equal role in parenting before their marriages end in divorce if changes to child custody laws are going to work, Pru Goward said yesterday.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
They have been dubbed the forgotten generation - the innocent casualties of their parents' crimes. New research shows that in 2001 14,500 NSW children had a parent in jail. And 60,000 NSW children under 16 have experienced the incarceration of a parent, more than half enduring the trauma of separation before they turn five.

States to cooperate on school curriculums but social skills don't rate? State and territory education ministers say Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson's heavy-handed threats to school funding will not assist their ambitious initiative to develop consistent school curriculum’s in key subjects.[?]

Family Law: Shared parenting arrangements
My children were four and two years of age and it's been fourteen years since I seen my children who are now adults. I don't know where they are because the government fragmented us by order of the Family Court of Australia, which should be called, the Anti-Family Court of Australia. Big yawn!!!

School Curriculum needs balance? Life Skills and Academic Skills go hand in hand man Colin you need to be the students friends not their judge. Only when you can invite the students into the decision making process will you get an obligation by them to change their behaviour, because you Colin could lead by example and not by power.

Australian fathers under terrorist attack-by its Politicians
Ruthless terrorists tactics are used by the state deny devoted fathers their children, and place vulnerable children at risk when they are denied their fathers protection. Five hundred thousand Australian children are denied contact with their father usually resulting from orders of the state by the Family and other Courts.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website? Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

NSW education professor warns further commitment needed
The author of a report on the New South Wales education system has urged the major political parties to do more for education in the election campaign.

Fiona Stanley, the children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

Parents call for feedback on social skills
Parents are calling for the same level of feedback on their children's social development as on their academic progress, according to a national survey.

Call to update suicide prevention strategy: study
A four-year study of suicides by people under the age of 18 in New South Wales, has found little difference between rates of suicide in rural and regional areas and cities.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

The punishment: Is the 'crime'
The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

The Seed
Respect, you only get out what you have put in. What about Life Skills, Communication and Conflict Resolution. Evolution, perhaps some children and adults miss the whole or part of the course. I did, and so how surprised do you think I was when I realised my parents missed the course as well. Things like Compromise, Win Win, Empathy, and Love. Invisible energy and other skills like public speaking, how to Relate, Assuming, Blaming, Forgiveness, Freedom and Discrimination. This is how I learned respect. If you don't know what it is then how do you relate?

The Law According to Gregory Wayne Kable
I was sharply separated from both my children aged just 4 years and two years and sent to prison for the manslaughter of my wife. I cared for my children when my wife worked and I believe that I still had a responsibility to them even after the crisis situation and tragedy. I wanted to reassure them now and find out how they were doing.

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law

A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

Chief Justice of the Family Court, Justice Alistair Nicholson, last week told the inquiry shared custody would not work for most families and could have a detrimental impact on children.

But I would have thought that there were already detrimental impacts on children and parents hence the need for an inquiry.

Lone Fathers' Association spokesman, Jim Carter, says the Family Court has some old-fashioned ideas about the best interests of children. Mr Carter says surveys have repeatedly shown children want equal time with parents.

"The system appears to be leading in many cases something like a fatherless society, which cannot be in the best interests of the children," Mr Carter said.

"So our assessment of that is that there is a need for change. The rules and the administration of the rules in this whole area must change."

But the inquiry is being told that 50-50 custody may hurt children. [?]

How could equality hurt any form of rule?

A federal parliamentary inquiry has heard presumed joint child custody after a separation could be damaging to a young child's development. [Heard by who? If they're not willing to say who says what, then why do they have a right to say it? Because that person has not shown themselves or any biases.]

The inquiry is again taking evidence in Canberra, looking at an idea raised by the Prime Minister for automatic equal custody.

Liberal backbencher Peter Dutton says presumed 50-50 child custody could be needed because the Family Court system is failing separated families.

"We've got this template at the moment which is an 80-20 situation," he said.

But clinical psychologist Dr Jennifer McIntosh has argued against the 50-50 presumption when conflict is evident between parents. She says that occurs two thirds of the time.

"Presumption is unsafe if we're looking statistically at that population," She said.

[But the conflicts usually occur from something? What about child access?]

GKCNN spoke to Justice Action's caseworker Mr Gregory Kable, "Clinical psychologists involved in family law benefit from the 80-20 situation because of the additional tension created by the rule.

For instances when judges order psychologists to interview the family including the children of the marriage and report to the court. These people are worse than the pharmaceutical companies," he said.

Professor Lawrie Moloney, from La Trobe University, says the assumption of joint custody is offensive.

"You don't treat the child as an object," he said.

Mr Kable said, "Professor Lawrie Moloney is not helping anyone understand the issue, because the court is deciding on the breakdown of a family into parts in the first place, because their parents don't get on."

"It is my understanding that they're deciding where each part should be satisfied equally."

The inquiry is in its second month and it will report back by the end of the year.

By Dear Old Dad 20 October 2003

Related:

Australia to tackle child abuse and rescue impoverished children?
A national report on child protection in the Northern Territory has blasted the system, saying it has abandoned the most impoverished children and families in Australia.

ATSIC call to smack kids?
The ATSIC commissioner said the high levels of regulation was not unlike the attention focused on Aboriginal families that led to the creation of a Stolen Generation of Aboriginal people. Mr Hill said he did not condone violence and admitted he did not smack his own children, but he stressed he wanted the issue of child discipline debated among Aboriginal people and community leaders.

No-Smacking Day for Children in NSW
Patmalar Ambikapathy the Children's Commissioner, HOBART Tasmania spoke to Gregory Kable a caseworker at Justice Action at the Controlling Crime Conference at Redfern in Sydney yesterday and we both realised how parallel our ideas about crime prevention were.

Judge renews child detainee release call
A Family Court judge, for a second time, has appealed to Immigration Minister, war criminal, Philip Ruddock to address the issue of children in detention.

Partnership to tackle Aboriginal children's health issues
Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley has called for a sense of urgency in tackling the serious health problems facing Aboriginal children.

Graffiti: What they see is what you get
Father David Equal, a community leader has described the graffiti as the response to neglect by Australia's leaders, and the mainstream media, who have discriminated against people, recently.

Ruddock to challenge Family Court ruling
Ruddock said it is unfortunate the Full Court of the Family Court made the decision. He said a successful High Court challenge could see the children returned to detention.

Men told to change role but what for?
Fathers must take an equal role in parenting before their marriages end in divorce if changes to child custody laws are going to work, Pru Goward said yesterday.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
They have been dubbed the forgotten generation - the innocent casualties of their parents' crimes. New research shows that in 2001 14,500 NSW children had a parent in jail. And 60,000 NSW children under 16 have experienced the incarceration of a parent, more than half enduring the trauma of separation before they turn five.

States to cooperate on school curriculums but social skills don't rate? State and territory education ministers say Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson's heavy-handed threats to school funding will not assist their ambitious initiative to develop consistent school curriculum’s in key subjects.[?]

Family Law: Shared parenting arrangements
My children were four and two years of age and it's been fourteen years since I seen my children who are now adults. I don't know where they are because the government fragmented us by order of the Family Court of Australia, which should be called, the Anti-Family Court of Australia. Big yawn!!!

School Curriculum needs balance? Life Skills and Academic Skills go hand in hand man Colin you need to be the students friends not their judge. Only when you can invite the students into the decision making process will you get an obligation by them to change their behaviour, because you Colin could lead by example and not by power.

Australian fathers under terrorist attack-by its Politicians
Ruthless terrorists tactics are used by the state deny devoted fathers their children, and place vulnerable children at risk when they are denied their fathers protection. Five hundred thousand Australian children are denied contact with their father usually resulting from orders of the state by the Family and other Courts.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website? Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

NSW education professor warns further commitment needed
The author of a report on the New South Wales education system has urged the major political parties to do more for education in the election campaign.

Fiona Stanley, the children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

Parents call for feedback on social skills
Parents are calling for the same level of feedback on their children's social development as on their academic progress, according to a national survey.

Call to update suicide prevention strategy: study
A four-year study of suicides by people under the age of 18 in New South Wales, has found little difference between rates of suicide in rural and regional areas and cities.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

The punishment: Is the 'crime'
The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

The Seed
Respect, you only get out what you have put in. What about Life Skills, Communication and Conflict Resolution. Evolution, perhaps some children and adults miss the whole or part of the course. I did, and so how surprised do you think I was when I realised my parents missed the course as well. Things like Compromise, Win Win, Empathy, and Love. Invisible energy and other skills like public speaking, how to Relate, Assuming, Blaming, Forgiveness, Freedom and Discrimination. This is how I learned respect. If you don't know what it is then how do you relate?

The Law According to Gregory Wayne Kable
I was sharply separated from both my children aged just 4 years and two years and sent to prison for the manslaughter of my wife. I cared for my children when my wife worked and I believe that I still had a responsibility to them even after the crisis situation and tragedy. I wanted to reassure them now and find out how they were doing.