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

The removal of the presumption is supported by evidence that shows that the orders for shared parental responsibilities are made in the majority of litigated matters and in the presence of these family violence and safety concerns. The Australian Institute of Family Studies research findings support the removal of the presumption, as they stated in their Senate submission. AIFS's evaluation research together with AIFS's compliance and enforcement project indicates how the application of a presumption in favour of joint parental responsibility is unworkable and in many cases unsafe, compounding the existing risk for families accessing the court and other formal resolution pathways. And, as I mentioned, stakeholder feedback on the exposure draft also reaffirmed that the misconceptions led to vulnerable parties agreeing to unsafe and unfair parenting arrangements, and can provide ongoing avenues for continued coercive and controlling behaviour between partners and where family violence is an issue.