Equality Based Provisions Of The Family Law Act And The Invisibility Of Women

Abstract

This article is concerned with the invisibility of women's interests in family law disputes about children which has resulted from the equality discourse adopted for family law reform. The notion of parental responsibility has been chosen to exemplify the way in which this invisibility has been entrenched, although the issue of the application of the best interests principle is also important in this context. The article advocates that the equality discourse be abandoned in the context of post-separation children's disputes, and that provisions be developed which more accurately and appropriately reflect the reality and difference of women's lives and experience. It concludes with references to alternative strategies for making women and their interests more visible in the context of family law child-related disputes.