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his edition of Family Matters focuses on one ofthe most fundamental yet complex aspects ofhuman experience – family relationships. Thearticles in this edition demonstrate this com-plexity in some depth in presenting research on

a range of different relationship issues, including familyviolence, stepfamilies and parent–child relationships.

The social and demographic backdrop to such research isan environment where the concept of family and themeaning of family relationships have been undergoing sig-nificant changes. The proportion of families that fit the‘standard’ configuration of a couple with children hasdecreased from 48.4 per cent in 1976 to 37 per cent in2006. The decrease in this family type is matched by asteady increase in couple-only families (37.2 per cent in2006, compared with 28 per cent in 1976) and one-parentfamilies with dependent children (10.7 per cent in 2006compared with 6.5 per cent in 1976). Another significanttrend is an increase in the proportion of cohabiting coupleswith de facto relationships now representing 15 per cent of

all people in couple relationships, compared with 6 percent in 1986 (all data from Weston & Qu, 2007). Thesedevelopments suggest increasing complexity in the mean-ing of ‘family’ and pose significant challenges forformulating policy across a range of areas, including law.

Family relationships and the new family law systemOver the past three decades, significant legal changes havebeen the companions of the social and demographic shiftsoutlined in the preceding paragraph. Most recently, theFamily Law Act 1975 (Cth) has undergone reform throughthe enactment of the Family Law Amendment (SharedParental Responsibility) Act 2006 (Cth), which hasstrengthened legislative support for shared parenting afterseparation and given increased prominence to the need toprotect children from exposure to abuse, neglect and fam-ily violence. It has also introduced compulsory familydispute resolution for most disputes over parentingarrangements. A key aim of these changes is to ensure that

Family relationships:Change and complexity

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FCoA responses outlined more focused and streamlinedapproaches to dealing with the issue, with a particularemphasis on ensuring that cases end up on the pathway tothe most appropriate court.

The issue of what pathway cases involving family violenceshould take was also the focus of the response from AliceBailey of the DVIRC. She made the important point thatthe legal culture has to change if the issue is to be dealtwith more effectively. The responses of the courts suggestthat efforts to produce deeper understandings of familyviolence among court personnel are underway.

A key point made by the Allegations of Family Violencereport is that evidentiary support for many allegations offamily violence is lacking, reflecting a range of factors,including, probably most importantly, that it is a phenom-enon that occurs in private and may have actively beenconcealed by the target for a range of reasons. This posesparticular difficulties in a legal context, as there may be nobasis for a finding of fact, yet these ‘unprovable’ facts aregermane to determinations about parenting arrangements.The thought-provoking response provided by Relation-ships Australia suggests that in such situations familydispute resolution may well be capable of producing betteroutcomes, because it avoids a forensic focus and may be acontext better suited to encouraging people to take respon-sibility for their behaviour.

In the context of this discussion about dispute resolutionprocesses and the new family law system, it is also impor-

family relationships – especially those between par-en t s and ch i l d ren , and g randparen t s andgrandchildren – can be sustained despite changes incouple relationships, as long is it is safe to do so, withthe over-arching intention to strengthen family rela-tionships. In the case of children from Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander communities, the legislationrecognises the need to maintain a wider range offamilial and cultural connections.

A number of the articles in this edition address issuesrelevant to the new family law environment. Amongthe more difficult questions is that of family violence.Increasingly, family violence is being recognised as afactor in relationship breakdown (e.g. Sheehan &Smyth, 2000), an issue that impinges on parentingcapacity (Edleson & Williams, 2007) and a potentialpredictor of child abuse (e.g. Tomison, 2000). A 2004report by Access Economics estimated that familyviolence cost the Australian economy $8.1 billion inthe 2002–2003 financial year, with about half of thatcost being borne directly by the victims.

In the context of post-separation disputes over par-enting arrangements, a history of family violence hasa range of implications, including whether a familydispute resolution-based pathway is the most appro-priate one, and how such a history should be takeninto account in determining parenting arrangements.In a context where there are multiple potential path-ways for parenting disputes, including having familydispute resolution available from many differentproviders and two different court systems – the Fed-eral Magistrates Court and the Family Court ofAustralia (which has a special pathway for casesinvolving child abuse) – the identification and assess-ment of cases involving family violence are crucial toensure they are dealt with in the most appropriate forum.

Landmark research featured in this edition, the AustralianInstitute of Family Studies Allegations of Family Violenceand Child Abuse in Family Law Children’s Proceedingsreport, provides an empirical basis for starting to untanglesome of the issues surrounding allegations of family vio-lence and disputes over post-separation parentingarrangements. The report examined 300 Federal Magis-trates Court and Family Court of Australia files inparenting matters that concluded in 2003, and providesthe best empirical data we have had to date on the issue. Itfound that allegations of family violence (most often fallinginto the ‘severe’ category) were present in more than halfthe files across the sample, but were supported by firm evi-dence in a much smaller proportion of cases. It was only inthis smaller proportion of cases that the allegationappeared to have an effect on the type of parentingarrangement made.

In view of the significance of the issues raised, Family Mat-ters invited relevant organisations to submit responsesconsidering how future practice could better address suchallegations. The invitation was accepted by the FamilyCourt of Australia (FCoA), the Federal Magistrates Court(FMC), Relationships Australia (RA), and the DomesticViolence and Incest Resource Centre (DVIRC). Each ofthese organisations articulated, in different ways, the chal-lenges the new family law system faces in dealing withcases involving family violence. Both the FMC and the

tant to recognise the significance of the changes tocourt processes introduced as part of the Family LawAmendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act2006. As discussed in an article by former FamilyCourt judge Professor Richard Chisholm in this edi-tion, the Less Adversarial Trials process represents anew model that has the potential to offer real benefitsand a more child- focused process. Another aspect ofthe new family law system is dealt with in CatherineCaruana’s article on Family Relationships Centres(the new ‘gateway’ to the system), which provides awindow of insight into their operations through inter-views with centre managers.

Research on programs to help: Stepfamiliesand pre-marriage educationOne of the most challenging family forms, from both apolicy and individual perspective, are those whereadults are forming new partnerships and childrenfrom previous relationships are involved. As the arti-cle by Murdoch Childrens Research Institute principalresearch fellow, Jan Nicholson, and her colleagues,points out, such families involve particularly complexdynamics, reflected in a heightened risk of separation.

In addition to a useful review of research on programsto assist stepfamilies, Nicholson and colleagues pres-ent the findings of a study involving participants in theStepPrep Program in Brisbane. Illustrating the com-plexities of re-partnering with children, the researchhighlights a range of motivations for participation inthe free program, including the desire to learn howstepfamilies function and how to achieve greater har-mony in stepfamily relationships. The authors use thefindings of the study to reflect on how services in the

new family law system, such as Family Relationship Cen-tres, might develop strategies to address the needs ofstepfamilies.

An article by Institute researcher Robyn Parker onresearch into pre-marriage education in the United Statesalso highlights the positive role that relationship supportprograms can play. A large-scale study spanning fourAmerican states (Stanley, Amato, Johnson, & Markman,2006) described by Parker found that participation in pre-marriage education had positive impacts on levels ofmarital satisfaction, conflict and commitment, especiallyin the short term.

Parent–child relationships: Empirical snapshotsMoving away from a focus on issues related to marriage andseparation, a final research article examines anotheraspect of family life – father involvement with 4–5-year-olds. Institute research fellow Jennifer Baxter analysesdata from Wave 1 of Growing Up in Australia: the Longi-tudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), and providesan interesting and varied picture of relationships betweenfathers and 4–5-year-olds in the LSAC cohort. This piecesheds interesting light on one of the big contemporaryquestions, the issue of work–life balance and the extent towhich work commitments impede the development andmaintenance of healthy family relationships. Baxter’sanalysis shows that working long hours results in a smalldecline in father involvement but significant variations

exist in the cohort, suggesting other issues, possiblyincluding motivation, may play a role.

Conclusion

The research featured in this special edition canvasses adiverse range of issues, but leaves many more topics in thiscomplex area untouched. In selecting the content, we haveattempted to address issues of current concern and makeavailable research that is timely and relevant. One of theunifying threads running through the edition is the nexusbetween research, policy and practice. This can be seenparticularly clearly in the Allegations of Family Violencereport, which provides more comprehensive insight intowhat has been a particularly poorly understood topic thanhas been available before. In providing responses, the FCA,FMC, RA and DVIRC have opened the door for deeperunderstanding of the practical challenges that allegationsof family violence raise, and of the steps being taken toaddress them more effectively. Similarly, Nicholson andcolleagues’ study of the StepPrep program provides point-ers for further policy development and effective servicedelivery.

In this regard, it is also pertinent to draw attention tothe Institute’s “Evaluation of the family law reformpackage”, (see page 39). In commissioning thisresearch, the Australian Government has responded tothe observation of the Parliamentary Committee thatproduced the Every Picture Tells a Story report thatthere was a dearth of empirical data on the impact ofseparation on families and their progress through thefamily law system (Recommendation 19, Australia. Par-liament. House of Representatives Standing Committeeon Family and Community Affairs, 2003). Thisresearch will help fill the gaps that currently exist incollective understandings of how the family law systemoperates, and what impact it has on the experiences offamilies undergoing separation.

References

Access Economics (2004). The cost of violence to the Australian econ-omy: Part 2. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Australia. Parliament. House of Representatives Standing Committeeon Family and Community Affairs. (2003). Every Picture Tells aStory. Canberra: Author.

Edleson J., & Williams, O. (Eds.) (2007). Parenting by men who batter:New directions for assessment and intervention. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.

Sheehan G., & Smyth, B. (2000). Spousal violence and post-separationfinancial outcomes. Australian Journal of Family Law, 14(2),102–118.

Stanley, S., Amatao, P., Johnson, C., & Markman, H. (2006). Premaritaleducation, marital quality, and marital stability: Findings from alarge random household survey. Journal of Family Psychology,20(1), 117–126.

Tomison, A. (2000). Exploring family violence: Links between childmaltreatment and domestic violence. (Child Abuse PreventionIssues No. 13). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies,National Child Protection Clearinghouse.

Weston, R., & Qu, L. (2007). Trends in family formation and dissolu-tion. Paper presented at the Relationship Support Network Meeting,Canberra.

Dr Rae Kaspiew is a Research Fellow at the Australian Institute ofFamily Studies.

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