- War erupts over Family Court attack
- By Trudy Harris
- The Australian
- 23/03/2005 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 47 articles in 2005 )
CLAIMS the Family Court is a monstrosity, abuses children and denies human rights have sparked a war of words between its former chief justice Alistair Nicholson and one of the nation's top historians.
La Trobe University historian John Hirst says the court allows a parent to make unsubstantiated allegations of child abuse against the other parent in an attempt to win custody a claim Mr Nicholson branded yesterday as "grossly irresponsible and just completely wrong".
Writing in the latest issue of current affairs journal Quarterly Essay, Dr Hirst says parents can raise such allegations by filling out a form rather than swearing on oath or backing up the allegations with affidavits, as is the requirement in other courts.
In an essay titled Kangaroo Court: Family Law in Australia, Dr Hirst cites a six-year-long case that involved a child being continuously examined for sexual abuse. He also says a student of his, accused by his wife of being a danger to his children, had to spend six months disproving the allegations.
"For six months he was sort of on trial. He had to be examined psychologically, go to a psychiatrist, have anger management, so his experience is quite a common one, that accusations are made very, very easily in this court and then people have to prove that they're OK," Dr Hirst told ABC radio's World Today program yesterday. "And I don't think this is a good system. I think accusations are made too freely and are taken too seriously without any preliminary checking of them."
Mr Nicholson, who headed the Family Court for 16 years before retiring last year, hit back, describing the essay as "an extremely emotional and unbalanced approach to what should have been a scholarly work".
He said some of Dr Hirst's claims were among the worst "thrown around" by the more extreme sections of the fathers' movement.
Describing the comments about child abuse as nonsensical, Mr Nicholson said the Family Court was obliged under federal legislation to refer any allegations of abuse to the relevant child protection authorities. He said making false allegations would count against the parent if they were disproved during the custody case.
"If you make a false allegation, it's a very dangerous thing to do anyway, because that would tell strongly against a person in terms of any dispute over the child," Mr Nicholson, a known defender of the Family Court, which is undergoing reform, told the same ABC program.
Dr Hirst also said parents wasted thousands of dollars because the court failed to enforce its own orders. It did not punish a parent for failing to comply with agreed access visits, forcing the other parent to return to court in an attempt to have the original ruling enforced.
Mr Nicholson said it did enforce its orders but it dealt with people whose lifestyles and personal situations changed quickly, and consequently consent orders became outdated.
He also rejected as potentially dam-aging to children tough enforcement methods used in some US courts.
La Trobe University historian John Hirst says the court allows a parent to make unsubstantiated allegations of child abuse against the other parent in an attempt to win custody a claim Mr Nicholson branded yesterday as "grossly irresponsible and just completely wrong".
Writing in the latest issue of current affairs journal Quarterly Essay, Dr Hirst says parents can raise such allegations by filling out a form rather than swearing on oath or backing up the allegations with affidavits, as is the requirement in other courts.
In an essay titled Kangaroo Court: Family Law in Australia, Dr Hirst cites a six-year-long case that involved a child being continuously examined for sexual abuse. He also says a student of his, accused by his wife of being a danger to his children, had to spend six months disproving the allegations.
"For six months he was sort of on trial. He had to be examined psychologically, go to a psychiatrist, have anger management, so his experience is quite a common one, that accusations are made very, very easily in this court and then people have to prove that they're OK," Dr Hirst told ABC radio's World Today program yesterday. "And I don't think this is a good system. I think accusations are made too freely and are taken too seriously without any preliminary checking of them."
Mr Nicholson, who headed the Family Court for 16 years before retiring last year, hit back, describing the essay as "an extremely emotional and unbalanced approach to what should have been a scholarly work".
He said some of Dr Hirst's claims were among the worst "thrown around" by the more extreme sections of the fathers' movement.
Describing the comments about child abuse as nonsensical, Mr Nicholson said the Family Court was obliged under federal legislation to refer any allegations of abuse to the relevant child protection authorities. He said making false allegations would count against the parent if they were disproved during the custody case.
"If you make a false allegation, it's a very dangerous thing to do anyway, because that would tell strongly against a person in terms of any dispute over the child," Mr Nicholson, a known defender of the Family Court, which is undergoing reform, told the same ABC program.
Dr Hirst also said parents wasted thousands of dollars because the court failed to enforce its own orders. It did not punish a parent for failing to comply with agreed access visits, forcing the other parent to return to court in an attempt to have the original ruling enforced.
Mr Nicholson said it did enforce its orders but it dealt with people whose lifestyles and personal situations changed quickly, and consequently consent orders became outdated.
He also rejected as potentially dam-aging to children tough enforcement methods used in some US courts.
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