Children's Contact Services in Australia: The Referral Process

PARENTING AFTER PARTNERING. PORTLAND, UNITED STATES, Maclean M., ed., pp. 169-191, Hart Publishing, 2007

U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 387

39 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2009

See all articles by Belinda Fehlberg

Belinda Fehlberg

University of Melbourne - Law School

Rosemary Hunter

Kent Law School, Eliot College, University of Kent

Date Written: April 15, 2009

Abstract

In Australia, the possibility of using a Children’s Contact Service arises in a relatively small number of cases, but on a regular basis. This chapter, like the previous chapter, draws on the findings of a recently completed project on Children’s Contact Services. While the previous chapter looked at families’ movement through Contact Services and on to self-managed contact, this chapter looks at entry into Contact Services, in particular, referral agents’ accounts of the process of referral to Children’s Contact Services, the types of court orders made for supervised contact or changeover, and the contents of those orders. It also looks at the factors identified by referral agents as prompting an increase in recent years in the number of orders for the use of Children’s Contact Services, and the impact of the advent of Children’s Contact Services on their legal practices. The chapter concludes by identifying best practices for referral to Children’s Contact Services to emerge from the project.

Keywords: Children's Contact Service, entry into Contact Services, referral agents, court orders, best practices for referral

JEL Classification: K3, K30, K32

Suggested Citation

Fehlberg, Belinda and Hunter, Rosemary, Children's Contact Services in Australia: The Referral Process (April 15, 2009). PARENTING AFTER PARTNERING. PORTLAND, UNITED STATES, Maclean M., ed., pp. 169-191, Hart Publishing, 2007, U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 387, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1385822

Belinda Fehlberg (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria 3010
Australia

Rosemary Hunter

Kent Law School, Eliot College, University of Kent ( email )

Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS
United Kingdom

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