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What children and young people think should happen when families separate
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 What children and young people think should happen when families separate
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The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) Review of the Family Law System provided Helen Connolly, South Australia’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, with an opportunity to carry out focused consultations with children and young people about the Family Law system.
When parents separate, often their needs and wants are prioritised over their children’s. What children are saying is often diluted through ‘expert’ reports and what is perceived to be in the child’s best interest. This is despite the Family Law Act stating that the child’s best interest must be the primary factor in parenting disputes.
To explore the current system and recommendations for change, the Commissioner facilitated three consultation sessions with children and young people aged 7-22 years. They were organised through host organisations with sessions that drew on responses to scenarios, rather than exploring children and young people’s personal experiences. This approach was taken to minimise the risk of causing distress to the children involved. Participants included children and young people with and without a lived experience of the Family Law system. The Commissioner also met with individual parents as part of a small group, and with a Primary School Principal.
This report reflects what children said they would like from the time their parents separate to after the Family Law process officially concludes. This is supported by best practice case studies of how these steps could be achieved and recommendations to bring the focus onto children.
Overall, children and young people wanted:
- More information – and much sooner.
- The opportunity to choose the extent to which they are involved in the process and the opportunity to attend court.
- Access to clear and easily understandable information on the Family Law process and the adults involved in the process.
- People in the system to be kind, to listen and to believe what they say.
- Someone who is there just for them, from the start.
- Adults who recognise that siblings are not the same and they there might need to be different arrangements put in place for each child.
- An opportunity to have decisions reviewed and to monitor outcomes when circumstances change with adjustments made in a timely way.
