Thanks for that guys, I'm a bit worried I won't be able to learn a new writing method by tomorrow, would any of you care to read a paragraph of mine?
Q. Assess whether changes to family law are an improvement on previous law.
Paragraph 2 : Moving on, any area where the law has made many changes is the area of the changing nature of parental responsibility. Parental responsibility is defined under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth) as all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority a parent has by law in relation to children.
Owing to society’s changing values and the increasing levels of divorce today, the law has changed many times to ensure it is updated and relevant, however may not always achieve expected degrees of improvement. One of the most recent changes is the shift from a system of parental rights to parental responsibility for a child. The Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006 (Cwlth) made it very clear to parents that all parental responsibility is joint under S61B and S61C and the notion of “equal shared parental responsibility” except in cases such as domestic violence under S61F(1). When two parents divorce, there still however exists confusion, with many parents believing “equal shared parental responsibility” means that they should receive “equal time” to spend with the child. This is however not the case, with the courts making parenting orders based on the child’s best interests, meaning sometimes, one parent may spend “substantial and significant time” with one parents if perceived to be more beneficial for the child under this new changes. These decisions can often lead to the parent who is ordered less contact with the child to refuse payment of child support as required under the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Scheme 1988 (NSW). This is especially since changes to the Child Support (Assessment) Scheme Act 1989 (NSW) in 2008 took into account whether a parent has regular overnight care of the child in determining how much a parent was to pay. This was seen in the case of Tellam V Meriami 2012 where a father had not paid child support due to receiving minimal contact with the child, causing the plaintiff to suffer financial instability and fail her duty of parental responsibility to her child. Reinforcing this is the newspaper article “$22m in child support debt, published by news.com.au on 16/10/13” which outlines that a large $1.1million worth of child support has not been paid, with NSW leading this debt, contributing $324 million worth of unpaid child support. Both these examples outline the inadequate improvements these changes under the Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006 (Cwlth) to parental contact have made. Many parents choose not to comply, believing it is wrong and against their values to pay for a child they have minimal contact with, as well as the law lacking high degrees of enforceability in forcing parents to pay this compulsory child support. Consequently, the law’s improvements in this area have been problematic in enforcing the duty and responsibility parents have in relation to their children.