Family Reports and Family Violence in Australian Family Law Proceedings: What Do We Know?
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Author(s)
Field, Rachael
Jeffries, Samantha
Rathus, Zoe AM
Lynch, Angela
Year published
2016
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Family reports are critical documents in family parenting cases. They are often the only social science information available to the judge, the lawyers and the parties. They are influential in judicial decision-making and out-of-court negotiations. Despite their importance there has been little direct research about the quality and impact of family reports in Australia. It is also known that family violence is a common occurrence in parenting cases that progress to litigation, and therefore the kinds of cases in which family reports are ordered, but again this is an under-researched issue. This article presents foundational ...
View more >Family reports are critical documents in family parenting cases. They are often the only social science information available to the judge, the lawyers and the parties. They are influential in judicial decision-making and out-of-court negotiations. Despite their importance there has been little direct research about the quality and impact of family reports in Australia. It is also known that family violence is a common occurrence in parenting cases that progress to litigation, and therefore the kinds of cases in which family reports are ordered, but again this is an under-researched issue. This article presents foundational information about the existing research to identify what is known about family reports and family violence. It examines the legislative framework for family report writing and analyses the official guidelines and documents and informal information that provide context to this work. It considers what family report writers need to know and understand about family violence to write reports that deal appropriately with family violence and make safe recommendations. Australian and international research on family violence, its impact on parenting, its role in family law proceedings and its influence in family report writing is reviewed. The article concludes that Australian research in this area is required to contribute to improved practices in family reports.
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View more >Family reports are critical documents in family parenting cases. They are often the only social science information available to the judge, the lawyers and the parties. They are influential in judicial decision-making and out-of-court negotiations. Despite their importance there has been little direct research about the quality and impact of family reports in Australia. It is also known that family violence is a common occurrence in parenting cases that progress to litigation, and therefore the kinds of cases in which family reports are ordered, but again this is an under-researched issue. This article presents foundational information about the existing research to identify what is known about family reports and family violence. It examines the legislative framework for family report writing and analyses the official guidelines and documents and informal information that provide context to this work. It considers what family report writers need to know and understand about family violence to write reports that deal appropriately with family violence and make safe recommendations. Australian and international research on family violence, its impact on parenting, its role in family law proceedings and its influence in family report writing is reviewed. The article concludes that Australian research in this area is required to contribute to improved practices in family reports.
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Journal Title
Journal of Judicial Administration
Volume
25
Issue
4
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Thomson Reuters. This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Journal of Judicial Administration and should be cited as Rachael Field et al, Family Reports and Family Violence in Australian Family Law Proceedings: What Do We Know?, (2016) 25 JJA 212. For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search. The official PDF version of this article can also be purchased separately from Thomson Reuters at http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/subscribe-or-purchase.
Subject
Law in context
Legal systems