*The Australian legal system in relation to family law seeks to protect children. The best interest of the child is considered to be the paramount. Many types of families exist in our contemporary society such as nuclear, blended and single parent families. Living in a technologically advanced society, creating human life is gradually becoming a science rather than a miracle of natural life. The ethics behind in vitro fertilisation, also known as IVF, have been very conflicting ones. *IVF helps infertile couples achieve their dream of having a child by an ovum fertilised by sperm in a laboratory. The allowance of IVF has been effective in achieving justice for infertile couples by allowing them to start a “family”. On the contrary, the case of Leesa Meldrum in the High Court resulted in the allowance of a single mother to have IVF treatment, which creates justice even more for those unable to have children.
*Children are an asset to society, and with the increasing acceptance of birth technology, there are many questions that arise. Surrogacy is the promise between a couple and a woman agreeing to bear a child for the couple. An important question in regards to surrogacy was explored in Whitehead v Stern – should the parent who donated the genetic material take care of the child, or should the parent who gave birth? This is an issue becoming more apparent and which needs to be addressed. * The concept of family is also changing, that is, there are alternate family arrangements to the former definition of a family as the nuclear family. The recognition of de-facto relationships has brought much justice to people in such circumstances. Changing community values no longer see this as “living in sin”. Instead, the De-facto Relationships Act 1984, amended and renamed the Property (Relationships) Act 1984, defines this. This achieves justice by allowing property division and maintenance orders for these couples if the relationship has broken down.
The Term Paper on Working Mother Family Children Time
To Work or Not To Work The Dilemma of the Working Mother INTRODUCTION: The discipline of Sociology has long been interested in the study of human behavior. This interest grows from the sociological conception of relationships which distinguish the individual and differentiate him from other members of society. Through the ages, man has been influenced by social interaction and cultural ...
*Despite the De-facto Relationships Act, those of same sex relationships were not recognised. Same sex couples are discriminated under the law, for example in relation to the Adoption of Children Act 1965. It was not until the Property (Relationships) Legislation Amendment Act 1999 was passed that they were recognised under statute law. It is because of societies changing values that the legal system had been able to bring some sort of effectiveness to these people. A further change in values has led to justice for same sex couples which is the civil unions available in ACT from May 2006.
*Violence has become an increasingly predominant problem within Australian society. domestic violence occurs when one partner attempts to control the other through physical or psychological means, for example, it may include physical or sexual assault, verbal and emotional abuse. It has always been a value of Australia to protect its citizens. Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVO) are especially important for domestic violence victims, which creates some form of justice. However, non compliance is very common with ADVO. In fact, one in every five ADVOs are broken, therefore, they are not effective in achieving justice. *The case of Andrea Patrick 1993 shows the possible consequences of broken AVOs
Divorce is an important issue within society, especially during the most recent reforms. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 stated that there were grounds for the divorce procedure. These grounds for divorce were faults that one spouse had committed and whereby the innocent spouse could apply for divorce. *This method had not been effective and did not adhere to societies changing values on divorce. The enactment of The Family Law Act 1975 was a much more effective solution in addressing divorce issues due to the no fault guiding principle. The couple need only show the marriage had broken down irretrievably.
The Term Paper on Step Families Family Marriage Divorce
The Impact of Non-Traditional Families in the Twenty-First Century The image of the American family looks and functions very differently than families of the past few decades. Men and women raised in the 1950's and 1960's when programs such as "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Father Knows Best" epitomized the average family, are likely to find themselves in situations that have changed dramatically. ...
*To ensure that the legal system is additional effective in dealing with family issues, the Family Law Court of Australia was established, resulting from the enactment of the Family Law Act 1975. Having a specialised court meant that family matters could be resolved quicker. This court proves to achieve justice as it now prohibits the general public and most predominantly the media from attending hearings which obviously eliminates family matters from the public stream, hence, being effective.
*Overall, the Australian legal system is fairly effective in protecting family members as various legislation and legal measures have been put in place in order to achieve this such as family court injunctions, family violence orders and criminal charges. However, as indicated through recent studies many people believe that family problems should be kept within the family. This means that the full extent of these problems isn’t known. This makes it difficult to accurately determine the influence Through all of this the legal system protects family members to the best of its ability.
