Ms Karen Kiernan:

The whole section in respect of making parenting orders work is where it should fit. In our written submission, we also have concerns about the definitions of some of those family supports.

We believe they are insufficient. We believe child contact centres should be specifically written in as well with several optional ancillary supports to courts. We can send in further wording on that.
The issue of resourcing is not addressed in the legislation. I am unsure whether this is something that can be done, but it is very ad hocin terms of people being able to afford it. Really, the courts must be resourced. For private family law cases if people cannot afford to resource the courts then they cannot make evidence-based decisions. One Family believes this is a public concern and a concern in respect of child safety. Our recommendation is that sufficient family support services should be funded publicly for people who require them and that these should be closed rather than open-ended services put in place based on the estimates of requirements.