SchubertMisha, ‘PM Backs Dads in Custody Overhaul’, The Australian, 18 June 2003, 3 (quoting HowardJohn).
2.
Commonwealth, Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs, Inquiry into Child Custody Arrangements in the Event of a Family Separation, (2003). Terms of reference available at <http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fca/childcustody/index.htm> at 29 September 2003.
3.
MottramMurray, ‘Why Howard Suddenly Started to Talk About Family Custody Battles’, The Age (Melbourne), 21 June 2003, 1.
4.
Ibid.
5.
The Inquiry is also examining the fairness of the existing child support formula.
6.
See BernsSandra, ‘The Ties That (No Longer) Bind: Tension and Contradiction in Family Law’, (1999) 21Adelaide Law Review19, 22–3 and BowenJan, Child Support: A Practitioner's Guide, (2nd ed, 2002) 1.
7.
Evidence to the Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs, Parliament of Australia, Blacktown, Sydney, 1 September 2003, 16 [uncorrected proofs] (HardwickRodney Charles).
8.
See KayeMirandaTolmieJulia, ‘Discoursing Dads: The Rhetorical Devices of Fathers' Rights Groups’, (1998) 22Melbourne University Law Review162, 164–9.
9.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Year Book Australia 2003 (Cat No 1301.0) 177.
10.
SmythBruceWestonRuth, Financial Living Standards After Divorce: A Recent Snapshot, AIFS Research Paper 23, Melbourne, December 2000.
11.
See eg GreeneGeoffrey, Shared Parenting Council of Australia Media Release, 18 June 2003 <http://www.spca.org.au/media.htm> at 29 September 2003. He criticises ‘the current ‘one size fits all’ model of sole custody orders of the Family Court’.
12.
Orders in favour of fathers were made in 19.6% of consent order cases and contested hearings in 2000/01 compared to 15.3% in 1994/95. See MunroIan, ‘Twice as Many Fathers Now Winning Custody of Their Children’, The Age (Melbourne), 10 March 2003, 1. When considering fully defended hearings, it appears that fathers may be successful in a higher percentage of cases: A 1994 Australian study found that fathers were successful in 31% of defended cases and a 2001 study with a smaller sample found that fathers were successful in 40% of fully defended cases. See MoloneyLawrie, ‘Do Fathers “Win” or Do Mothers “Lose”? A Preliminary Analysis of Closely Contested Parenting Judgments in the Family Court of Australia’, (2001) 15International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family363, 366.
13.
SmythBruceCaruanaCatherineFerroAnna (Australian Institute of Family Studies) ‘Some Whens Hows and Whys of Shared Care: What Separated Parents who Spend Equal Time with Their Children Say About Parenting’ (Paper Presented at the SPRC, Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 9–11 July 2003) 3 <http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/papers/smyth4.pdf> at 29 September 2003.
14.
For example ArndtBettina, ‘Fathers May Get Justice at Last’, The Age (Melbourne), 20 June 2003, 15, relies on BausermanRobert, ‘Child Adjustment in Joint Custody Versus Sole-Custody Arrangements: A Meta-Analytic Review’, (2002) 16Journal of Family Psychology91.
15.
See eg BausermanRobert, above n 14, 99.
16.
SmythBruceCaruanaCatherineFerroAnna, above, n 13, 3, 21.
17.
SmythBruceCaruanaCatherineFerroAnna, above, n 13.
18.
SmythBruceCaruanaCatherineFerroAnna, above, n 13, 21.
19.
SmartCarolNealeBrenWadeAmanda, The Changing Experience of Childhood: Families and Divorce, (2001) 129.
20.
Ibid, 128–9.
21.
Ibid.131.
22.
MaccobyEleanorMnookinRobert, Dividing the Child: Social and Legal Dilemmas of Custody (1992) 276. US child psychologist and President of the California Dispute Resolution Institute, Dr Joan Kelly, a supporter of shared residency, was quoted as saying, ‘Neither lawyers nor judges understand attachment issues in infants and toddlers and preschoolers. They require shorter visits, to avoid separation anxiety, and therefore, ironically, more transitions.’ MunroIan, ‘50–50 joint custody challenged’, The Age (Melbourne), 12 July 2003, 3.
23.
MaccobyEleanorMnookinRobert, above n 22, 276.
24.
SmartCarolNealeBrenWadeAmanda, above n 19, 131.
25.
Two of these studies, the ‘Nuffield Study’ and the ‘ESRC Study’ are written up in Carol Smart, Bren Neale and Amanda Wade, above n 19 and the third is in WadeAmandaSmartCarol, Facing Family Change: Children's Circumstances, Strategies and Resources, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK, 2002 <http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/1842630849.pdf> 29 September 2003. See also SmartCarol, ‘From Children's Shoes to Children's Voices’, (2002) 40Family Court Review307.
26.
SmartCarolNealeBrenWadeAmanda, above n 19, 132.
27.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998, Family Characteristics Survey Australia 1997 (Cat. No. 4442.0) 7. This report refers to ‘shared care’ rather than equal time. Shared care, in the ABS report, is where each natural parent looks after the child(ren) at least 30% of the time.
