Natasha Stott Despoja (SA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

The Democrats oppose item 11 of schedule 1 in the following terms:

(16)  Schedule 1, item 11, page 12 (line 16) to page 16 (line 11), section 60I, TO BE OPPOSED.

This amendment seeks to omit section 60I, which introduces the regime of compulsory dispute resolution to apply prior to parents being able to go to court to seek a parenting order under part VII. Apart from what has been acknowledged and described as a somewhat paternalistic regime, the Democrats feel it is unnecessary to make this regime compulsory. By all means provide services to parents who would like to resolve things prior to events ending up in court, but do not force parents who feel court is an option—and it is the only option, in some cases, particularly in cases of high conflict—to mediate.

The regime, of course, does have some exceptions. I acknowledge that and we welcome them. But there has been no consideration for these exceptions in circumstances where people may be, say, part of a marginalised group in a community or cannot attend or access dispute resolution because of their particular situation or circumstances. We do not believe this regime has taken into account the needs of all families so, on the face of it, we are not impressed by it as it is currently composed. We do not believe that this section, 60I, should stand as printed.