How Does the Family Court System Work for Women?

In 2006, the Howard government introduced major changes to Australia's family law system. It put an emphasis on shared responsibility for separating parents. Now parties won't be able to commence an action in the family court unless they've attempted dispute resolution at one of these centres. There was a sense from the women I was speaking to, but also from Angela Lynch, who works with a domestic violence support service for stop, that this had changed the situation for women. They said if they made allegations of violence or abuse, much harder,. because then it was seen as, oh, well, we can’t do the presumption... The best interests of the child were always central before 2006, and even