Describe The Two Contemporary Issues And Evaluate

1153 Words5 Pages
In today’s society, there are a rising issues concerning parents and children. The concept of parental responsibility has been altered as well as the care and protection of children. As society changes so too do people’s views and values towards issues concerning children, therefore law reform is necessary to meet society’s expectations and needs. There are various legal and non-legal responses in accordance to these changes that prove to be both effective and ineffective. The term ‘parental responsibility’ refers to the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority that parents have in relation to their child. Under changes introduced to the Family Law Act 1995, both parents are responsible for the short and long term care of their children. The focus of the law is on ensuring that parents fulfil their legal obligations and that they meet their responsibilities towards their children. Law reform in 2006, Family Law Amendment Act, aimed to encourage parents to equally share responsibility and care. Prior to this act more than 60% of parenting plans enforced that children must spend a majority of their time with their mother. This is limited in effectiveness as the child does not have a male role model in their life, possibly leading to long term personal problems for the child. The reforms to the family law system has caused emphasis on the best interest of the child as a paramount consideration in family law matters, being effective as the rights of a child are being protected as choices are made in the child’s best interest not the parents. The 2006 amendment act of the children support assessment act 1989 is a legal response that managed the welfare payments between 2 parties to finance a child. The children support assessment act removed the previously ineffective way that maintenance payments allocated to family members. Merged maintenance with the
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