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The Family Court’s dilemma in cases of child sexual abuse

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Category: Court Ordered Abuse

Created: Monday, 11 July 2016 14:39

Written by Nicola Berkovic - The Australian

Richard Chisholm, a former Family Court judge, says the consequences are tragic when the court gets it wrong.

The secret was that her father had begun raping Lucy in his bed when she went on Family Court-ordered access visits to his house in a regional Australian town.

Revelations about Lucy’s ordeal have raised questions about the Family Court’s heavy reliance on expert reports to determine the veracity of sexual abuse ­allegations.

Suffer the children - Trouble in the Family Court

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Category: Court Ordered Abuse

Created: Wednesday, 28 September 2016 14:35

Written by Jess Hill (Investigative Reporter) - The Monthly

When Erin saw the police lights flashing, she knew it was over. She steered the car to the side of the road, and turned to her two children. “OK guys, this is it,” she said. “We’ve done our best.”

Her teenaged daughter started to panic. “Fuck! Oh my god!” she cried. “I can’t do this. You can’t leave us!” She grabbed for the bottle of Panadol in the centre console, insisting she wanted to die. “No!” Erin said firmly. “Settle, just settle.”

Mothers being forced to agree to shared parenting or lose their child

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Category: Court Ordered Abuse

Created: Friday, 23 September 2016 17:44

Written by Maurice Kriss ASM, Barrister (ret)

Mothers are being blackmailed into shared parenting in the Family Court 'Magellan List'.

My name is Maurice Kriss and I am the President of the National Child Protection Alliance of Australia. (NCPA) The National Child protection Alliance is a registered charity and nonprofit organisation dedicated to the protection of Children and Young people from abuse and neglect.  It was formed by researchers, academics, child welfare/ protection professionals, advocates for children, children's lawyers and parents to promote the Rights of the Children under the UN conventions.

I was first admitted to The New South Wales Bar as a barrister in 1988.  I predominantly practiced in the Criminal field of Law.  Until, in 2007, when I was asked to appear for a mother who was appearing in the Family Court in Canberra.  She alleged that her 3-year-old son had been anally assaulted by the child's father. The mother in this case lives on the South Coast of New South Wales.  This case launched me into a new pathway in law.

From that time onwards, my life took on a new direction.  I joined the NCPA where I was asked to assist a number of mothers who had their children taken from them by the Family Court after reporting that their children had been sexually abused by their husband or partner and handed to the abuser.  I was asked to assist mothers in all States of Australia excluding the Northern Territory.  For the following eight years I appeared in these states mostly pro-bono.  It was during these Court cases that I noticed a distinct pattern of corrupt conduct of the Family Court whereby the mothers were treated with abuse and disrespect.  They were called liars and accused them of coaching their children to lie.  The fact that very young children at the time were bleeding from the anus or vagina did not move police or Child Protection Authorities into doing proper investigations into the complaint of child sexual abuse.