Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I believe it's therefore worth me reading the words of the ALRC report into the Senate Hansard for the benefit of the Senate and for anybody who may pick up this Hansard. This is actually what the ALRC said:

The ALRC supports the idea that a presumption of shared parental responsibility serves as a good starting point for negotiations between parents and recommends that the concept be retained. The ALRC also agrees in principle with the existing exceptions to that presumption, but recommends redrafting the exceptions as set out in Appendix G.

… the wording of the presumption should be clarified to avoid the confusion surrounding the term 'equal shared parental responsibility' and the conflation with equal time. The ALRC recommends that, to reduce confusion, s 61DA be redrafted to refer to 'joint decision making on major long-term issues'.

In practice, this would reflect the effect of orders that are currently made for equal shared parental responsibility, while eliminating most causes of misunderstanding of the provision.

The ALRC then went on to capture this discussion in an express recommendation—recommendation 7—in the following terms:

Section 61DA of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) should be amended to replace the presumption of 'equal shared parental responsibility' with a presumption of 'joint decision making about major long-term issues'.

Can I confirm again that the Attorney has not implemented that recommendation? In fact, he's ignored the ALRC's express comment that the presumption serves as a good starting point and should be retained.