Follow the step by step guides and find out what services are available to assist you.
Quickly address the most important question, such as:
Where do I start?
Who do I contact?
Can I do it without lawyers?
How can I minimise my costs?
How can I better my chances of getting shared care?
What actions/behaviours must I avoid if I want shared care?
What forms must I complete, and where can I find them?
What are the contact numbers/locations of the organisations that can help me?.....and more!
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Single Dad or Non-resident parent? Help us fix family law! Sign the ..'Strength in Numbers' Register..NOW!
Do you know that there are over 750,000 non-resident parents (of children under 18 y/o) in Australia? And this figure is growing by 30,000 every year.
Despite these huge numbers, successive governments have continued to ignore the serious plight of non-resident parents, in particular that of fathers who are regularly denied contact with their children simply because they have divorced.
However, we are a Majority, we have a Voice, and we have Strength in Numbers.
Sign the F4E Strength in Numbers Register now! Its free and nothing is required of you, but every person who signs helps us send an even louder message to Canberra that the silent majority have numbers and we have a voice, and we intend to use it!
In a recent Australian study, it was reported that 68% of separated fathers searched the web for child custody information, within a month of getting separated. Another 28% searched on the topic of suicide and depression, while the remaining searched on topics including iphone, cricket, baldness cures, viagra, pornography, stockmarket and child custody forums. Amongst recently separated mothers, 13% searched on child custody laws within a month of separation, 53% searched on child support, 24% searched for online dating sites, with the remainder searching on topics as diverse as depression, cosmetic surgery, divorce and weight loss.
Let Australia's politicians know what the overwhelming majority of Australians want. Sign the petition and state your support for a legislated presumption of 50/50 joint residence (equal parenting) in the event of separation.
Separation is unfortunately much more than the end of a marriage or relationship. It often involves exhorbitant legal fees, inequitable distribution of assets, loss of employment opportunities, and diminished capacity to properly support the financial needs of the children.
Sadly, much of the financial chaos and uncertainty experienced by separating families could have been avoided with the implementation of simple legal safeguards. Astonishingly, the vast majority of Australians choose not to protect their financial welfare nor the future financial welfare of their children in the event of divorce or separation.
AdvertisementA Child Maintenance Trust is a way for separated parents to pay less tax and satisfy their child maintenance obligations at the same time.
In Australia, the term "child custody" has been deleted from the legal vernacular, however it is still the most common term used to describe family law matters relating to children. Other common references in Australia relating to the issue of child custody include: child residence, child access, visitation, shared custody, joint custody and sole custody.
The 2006 amended family law act makes reference to none of these terms, prefering instead to focus on "lives with" as a reference to the primary parent, and "spends time with" as a reference to the old non-custodial parent. Further terminology introduced by the 2006 family law amendments include; family relationship centres, post-separation parenting classes, rebuttable presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, equal shared care and equal parenting time. Terminology un-touched by the amendments and used in the same manner as prior to the changes include; family report, single mother, single parent, sole parent, child alienation, child alignment, and "best interests of the child". Terminology starting to become more prominent in family law in Australia include; same sex parenting and non-biolgical mother.
Proposed Victorian DV Laws - Sexist or good for fathers?
Are the proposed laws a drachonian measure designed to negate the growing custodial influence of fathers, or are they a progressive measure that will assist fathers to address the previously unrecognised emotional and economical abuse they experience during relationship breakdown? Join the Community Forum now and let us know what YOU think!
Fathers4Equality consists of a large number of fathers, mothers, step-parents and grand-parents, who all share the core belief that sole-residence as a preferred model for post-separated families is harmful to children, and deprives decent non-custodial parents (usually fathers) of being a parent in the true sense of the word. Help us change the law!