Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

The word 'meaningful' was not included in the best-interests factors recommended by the ALRC. The bill does not include this term to avoid potential confusion about its meaning. For example, 'meaningful' could be misinterpreted as referring to being meaningful to the parent rather than the child or to mean more time or non-legally trained users of the act, which would be contrary to the policy intent. Case law has attempted to clarify and define what a meaningful relationship means over time. However, the concern is that ambiguity and confusion remain, particularly for self-interested litigants or parties who try to reach agreements outside of court. Ambiguity and confusion over the word 'meaningful' was highlighted in the 2017 report A better family law system to support and protect those affected by family violence. Findings from this report included, at 3.12 to 3.16, that stakeholders have indicated 'families are frequently advised not to raise family violence during family law matters' to avoid being seen as an unfriendly parent. In order for children to have a meaningful relationship with both parents, one party is faced with a parenting order that requires contact with the perpetrator—

Progress reported.